Promises To Keep
by xXlovethedeadXx
Summary: Rosie Graham had always tried her best to keep any promise she made with her sister, so even if it means having to battle her way out of an over run city, trusting strangers, and trying to keep her sanity, Rosie will try and keep a simple promise to her sister no matter how imposable that promise may be. Warning, Gore, Character death, racial slurs and foul language,
1. Chapter 1 Bliss

Walking Dead universe does not belong to me, I only own the characters that I created.

To each his sufferings: all are men, Condemned alike to groan; the tender for another's pain, the unfeeling for his own. Yet ah! Why should they know their fate? Since sorrow never comes too late, and happiness too swiftly flies; Thought would destroy their paradise. No more; where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise. Thomas Gray

* * *

Rosie Graham knew something was wrong the moment she heard her cell phone ring and see that it was her younger sister; this was odd due to the fact that every morning Rosie would call Maria never the other way around simply because she was Maria's alarm clock. Every morning for six years, since Rosie had moved out to go to college in Atlanta, she has called her sister to talk to her about yesterday's events and the morning news, Rosie never really liked to watch the news but Maria always loved it; she guesses that it was because Maria's crush was a news watcher and it gave her a reason to talk to him, of Corse whenever Rosie brought up that theory she could hear her sisters voice stutter and get nervous. But theses conversations would always start with Rosie calling her not the other way round, so when Rosie had to put down her toothbrush and pick up her buzzing purple cell phone she knew something wasn't right.

"Sissy?" Rosie felt a lump form in her throat, Maria's voice sounded so frightened and she could tell that she had been crying.

"What's wrong?" Rosie asked "Who did what? I will kick someone's ass if ya need me to." Rosie smiled she knew that would at least make her giggle but she didn't get the response she was hoping. "Sissy it's bad, it's really bad."

Rosie moved over to her small couch and clutched a pillow to her chest, the first thing she thought of was that her sister had gotten pregnant; if she was it would be bad, their father was the type of man that didn't even want to have his daughters dating until they were twenty six which meant that she herself would have to wait another two years before she could bring a boy home to meet her parents. She remembered how mad he was when her best friend took her to his senior prom, even after she explained that his girlfriend had gotten the stomach flu and that she was just going with him so that he could actually use the hundred dollar rented suit instead of wasting the money.

"Sweetie what's wrong." Rosie bit her bottom lip waiting for her sister to drop the news of the pregnancy. There was a bit of sniffling on the other line and Rosie could have sworn she heard her Daddy talking to their Mamma. Rosie looked at the clock above the TV, as long as she could remember her Mamma had always worked the night shift at the hospital, so she would usually have just gone to asleep right now.

"Have you watched the news?" her sister mumbled threw her tears. _Watched the news, really? That was why she was sad?_ "Oh my good god Maria! Dear Lord, ya called me cryin', makin' me think ya got yourself into some trouble and here ya are, actually cryin' about the mornin' news!"

"We're under attack!" she snapped back, her green eyes widened. _What? How the hell could we be under attack again, last time I checked airport security was a bitch._ "Just turn on the news." Her voice was still defiant but Rosie could feel the panic and sorrow hidden beneath it.

Letting out a sigh Rosie reached for the remote and turned on the small TV, after a few seconds the screen slowly showed two figures sitting at a large desk after they cleared up the volume soon came on. At first Rosie just sat there in annoyance waiting for them to start talking about news of attacks on any big cities, either on New York or the capital but all they talked about was an increase in violet behavior sweeping the east coast that was quickly spreading west threw out Canada and Mexico. "I thought ya said were being attacked, ya cryin' become people are riotin'?" At that moment the girl heard a small ding sound and smiled, she needed some Joe after dealing with a blubbering sister.

"They're not riotin' Rosie! Their killin' people!" she yelled at her "Daddy was watchin' the news and he said that earlier they showed a cop shootin' down a woman!" Now that took Rosie back, she swore softy under her breath as she slowly poured her coffee.

"Was she tryin' to stop him or somethin'?" She asked

"No, well I don't know. Daddy just said that the woman was walkin' up to the cop and then." She paused for a sec, Rosie guessed to wipe her face. "The news camera didn't even have time to move the camera way form it! They showed it all!" Rosie pushed the phone away from her ear as her sister began to cry a little too loud for her ears to handle.

Sighing Rosie took a couple sips of her coffee until she could only hear her sister hiccupping threw the phone. "Maria ya need to calm down, people riot all the time," _I think_ "some just get a little worse than others, do ya know why they are riotin'?"

"Wait, ain't ya watchin' the news!" Maria asked, well yelled at her older sister.

"I'm tryin' to but it's hard to hear the TV with ya cryin' like that." She lied quickly while slowly making her way back into her small apartment living room and sat back down on her couch. "Liar!" Maria yelled calling her bluff. Rosie winced she hated it when her sister called her bluffs.

"Just pleas watch the news." Rosie rolling her eyes "fine ill watch ya news, but they're not talkin' right now, just showin' me a bunch of red dots on a map of the U.S. ok wait, now their showin' me a chick at a hospital."

"Ya, I'm watchin' it right now, I'm surprise ya haven't heard anythin' about this yet. Apparently it's been goin' on for a few days now." Her voice was still shaky but she wasn't crying anymore which was an improvement, Rosie always thought her sister cried a little too much.

"So why are they riotin'?" she asked before taking a big gulp of her coffee. The news then showed an overweight man with scraggly brown hair being interview; he was holding his arm which seemed to be bleeding badly. He then began to explain what had happened to him.

"I was comin' home from work, and I saw this woman in the road and she was" he paused for a moment "moanin' or somethin'. So I, I went out to go see, I thought she was hit by a car or somethin', somethin' like that and I went to go reach out to help her and she bit me in the arm and scratched up my face." he paused for a sec looking at his arm, the camera panned down to show the bleeding limb it was hard for Rosie to believe it was form a bit and by the look on the man's face he was thinking the same thing. "I just took off." He finished the camera then panned away to the woman interviewing him. She was pretty, with long brown hair and a dark completion but her soft features were covered in fear as she went on to report to the news room and anyone watching the station.

"Doctors are still at a lost as to the reason behind these attacks, and the situation doesn't seem to be improving. The past few minutes I have seen four ambulances and several cars pull up with victims seeking emergency care. Whatever is going on, it seems to be far from over; Back to you Tom" Rosie had to give the woman props, with that startled of a face she could keep her voce calm enough to at least not startle to many people.

"What hospital was that?"

"The one here in Athens, Mamma just got off of work and they called her to come back. It's gotten' bad. Before they said that it was riotin' but now their sayin' it's somethin' else. They're not sure what though but the attackers are bitin' people and then are just dyin'."

"The people who are attacking others are dyin'?"

"No the people bein' bit are dyin'."

"Ok, how your just over exaggeratin'." Rosie went to go turn off the TV despite her sister yelling at her form the other line.

"No I'm not! Aren't' ya worried about Mamma! She's goin' into that hospital; what if she gets infected too?" Her voice was begging.

"What do you mean infected?"

"Daddy said its terrorist." _Oh dear god not this type of stuff._

"What does he mean by terrorist?" Rosie looked up at her clock, seven pass eight. She didn't have time for this anymore. Not with the shift she was stuck with. Rosie got up from the sofa and walked back towards her small bed room pass the even smaller bathroom, she guiltily toned out her sister as she walked giving her the occasional "Ya" replays. When she reached the dimly lit dark room Rosie placed the phone on her dresser turning the speaker on her phone on loud.

Rosie began to search her cluttered room for a decently clean pair of black slacks when she finally found a pair she made a small frowned, she hated this pair, they always were too tight for her and could definitely be considered high-water, but at least that way she didn't have to worry about them getting stuck in her bike's chain, it had happened before and almost lead her to be hit by a car.

"Are you listenin' to me?" Rosie jumped a little form the sudden yelling coming from her tiny phone.

Pulling up the black slacks Rosie hopped on one foot towards the phone "Ya, ya I hear ya, Mamma could get infected by a disease that isn't even real. Ya really think that the government is gonna keep somethin' like a terrorist attack a secret form us? Cause I didn't see that happen durin' 9-11."

"It is an attack though, aren't' ya worried about Mamma?" Maria pleaded wanting her older sister to feel the same as her, but she just couldn't.

"Look Mamma's a big girl I'm sure she will be just fine." Rosie looked at the calendar hanging above the dresser "Daddy has the day off today so if she needs help she can call him to get her, but don't ya have class today?"

"No, the teacher called in sick last minute." There was a bit of silent, long enough for Rosie to pull out the semi clean white polo form the small pile of cloths in the corner and put it over her blank tank top, the silent was then broken by Maria gasping, "Oh my god! Rosie, what if Mr. Woodman was bitten!"

Rosie began to gather her still damp mud brown hair into a bun, "Don't ya hate him?" she asked wondering why she would care about a teacher her little sister openly hated, she paused for a moment the only reason why Rosie was going to half to work till seven was because Robert had called her asking if she could take over his shift because he was sick with the flu, at first she found it odd because the man never go sick but he also made a promise to god to never lie and the man kept that promise no matter how cruel his truth could be. So when he called in sick making her shift double she at least knew it wasn't over a bull shit lie; but now she began to wonder if maybe her sister wasn't just blowing this out of pupation and Robert was also sick form this disease.

"That doesn't matter if I hate him or not! He's a human bein' and if he is infected then he'll die!" she blubbered threw the line.

Rosie pulled on her black socks and walked over to the dresser to pick backup her phone pressing it against her ear as she when to were her mint green tennis rested, "Are people really dyin' because they got an infectin'? Or is it just from losin' blood?"

"Mamma says that people she saw had barley lost any blood before they died," there was a bit of a pause. "Hang on." _No problem_, Rosie took the moment of her sister talking with their Daddy to tie her shoes, walk back into the living room and chugged the rest of her coffee. "Rosie are ya there?"

Setting the cup down she picked up the annoying contraption "Ya I'm here, what Daddy want?" she asked while stuffing her pockets full of the contents of her wallet, it was always a pain in the ass to ride her bike with her purse and the only bonus about theses pants was that the pockets were amazingly deep. "Daddy want's to barricade the house; he also wants you to stay home."

Rosie let out a sigh, "I can't, I have to do a double shift cause someone called in sick yesterday."

"Oh my God! Rosie! It's in Atlanta now!" Rosie literally jumped and pulled the phone away as her screeching sister's voice. "Wow, Maria, do not do that again! Jesus H Christ. Not be surprised if my ear is bleedin' now."

"You can't go to work!" she pleaded, she could now hear their Daddy yelling in the background about somethin' on the news, Rosie partially wanted to turn back on the TV but then again she was running late.

"Look I'm a month behind on my rent I need to go to work, I need to go now so I'll talk to ya later," her sister began to cry and plead with her but Rosie ignored it and continued on "I love ya and tell Daddy and Mamma I love em too, talk to ya when I get off of work."

She then flipped the phone off and put it on silent; she knew her sister would call at least seven times before she gave up, though they were two years apart she knew her sister as if she was her twin. She placed the device into her pocket and grabbed her name tag along with her annoyingly orange bike. She hated the color but it was the cheapest one at the time, and now she knew why, the damn thing broke down on her almost every two weeks.

_At least its light weight_, Rosie rolled the bike out of her apartment door, locked the bolt and began to roll the bike down the hall; the apartments she lived at weren't the most extravagant. But it worked for her and was at least seven blocks from her work, the only problem was that it was packed, five floors with four apartments on each floor, the owner himself lived on the fifth floor, him and his grandparents, in-laws, and she believed his cousin too but Rosie wasn't quiet Shure, but she knew they had to be better apartments then the ones below them because they would never share details about their living space or even show them, hell you needed a key just to get to that floor. But she at least didn't need to carry her bike that far being on the third floor.

Rosie stopped at the elevator and went to press the down button, when she looked up into the reflection of the partially dented elevator door, most of the renters believed it was form her riding her bike into it and they may be right, her twenty-first birthday was quiet a party. She looked up and jumped at the reflection she saw behind her, he lived right across from her apartment and was probably a year or two older then her with curly blond hair and dark warm brown eyes a light tan and quiet the handsome features. Before he could look into the reflection and see her blush Rosie looked down pretending to mess with her name tag, in reality she wished she didn't even put it on it make her feel like such a dork. When the door dinged she quickly rolled her bike in the far corner away from him, praying that someone else would walk into the elevator so that he may talk with someone else then be forced to talk to her. _Oh god what if he does start a conversation with me? What the hell would I talk about? 'You know my sister called me this mornin' and apparently there is riotin' spreadin' across the states causin' people to bite each other." Ya, what a pleasant conversation that would be._

Rosie let out a sigh and scratched the back of her neck. "Rough morning?"

She jumped at the sound of his voice; this would be the third time he had talked to her since he had moved in almost four years ago. Rosie continued to scratch the back of her neck covering her face with her arm to hide the blush she could feel spreading across her face. "Uh, ya, kind of I guess." She mumbled.

"Crazy news ha?" he asked turning to look at her, _great he's still talkin' and if I keep scratchin' my neck he's gonna think I have some disease or somethin'_. With some hesitating she lowered her hand and turned to look at him, she tried to look in his eyes but instead stared at the yellow dog paw designed on his maroon shirt. "Ya, apparently my sister says people are eatin' each other." She replayed she hated this boy, didn't even know his name yet he made her act like a stupid little school girl fussing over her first crush. Hell Rosie had a boyfriend before, of course that was when she was in elementary school, but still how the hell could one boy make her so nerves like this without even knowing anything about him. Damn her hormones and damn this elevator for taking forever. She looked up and then blushed beat red because she realized that she hadn't' pushed any of the buttons that were staring right at her. Ya she was defiantly going to be late to work and it was all do to her being a stupid little school girl.

The boy laughed as she pushed for the ground floor, "Goin down?" she asked, he replied with a chuckled yes.

When the elevator stopped he did a small bow, sweeping his arm across his body, "My lady." He said with a smile in his voice. All she could do was nod her head and quickly move away from his presence. Looking at her phone she swore under her breath, she may only live seven blocks from her work but during the morning it usually took her forever to get there and she only had ten minutes till she had to clock in. this mornin' was defiantly not going as she had hoped it would.

* * *

Twelve, twelve cop cars have passed the gas stations that she worked at, twelve cop cars and seventeen ambulances, hell even three fire trucks. At first it was annoying for her to listen to but soon it became almost a game for her, she could guess how many of each would pass by within the hour an so far at one o'clock she was getting pretty good at it, the fire trucks did throw her off a bit thought and whenever a costumer rushed in to quickly buy as many water bottles and junk food at they could they always threw her off count if a one of the vehicle passed by at the same time. She even heard a helicopter pass by, she could only wonder as to which news station was the owner of it. It was a shame that the TV was out, she had never really witnessed a riot this big going on in her life and wondered if it was the largest riot in history of the United States. She looked up in annoyance at the blank corner of the wall were the TV used to set. She swore that the old man of an owner hated any type of technology because where ever you look the electronics in the store they looked as if he had chucked them across the room, hell even the register had a few nicks and dents and occasionally the screen will go blank and would even shut down in a middle of a transaction. All the employees always joked that the only thing he treasured that was technology was his hearing aid which would oddly not work whenever someone had a complaint.

Rosie scratched her freckled noise as another three cop cars drove by, well their goes her bet on the cops, she was now two over what she betted on. She sighed and made a mark on the scrap piece of paper, it was usual slow here due to the gas prices being the highest in the city and it being a not so well known gas station, this combination caused her to be bored out other mind, the place was already cleaned three times today by her leaving her with nothing else to do, this is what she got for being bored easily and unable to stay still, it as one of the reasons why she had went to school to be a nurse. Rosie moved her hand down to her right arm, she felt the long ridge across it even after all these years it was still very noticeable. When she was a little kid she had fallen out of a tree breaking her arm and even cutting it really bad on the small fence near the tree, the nurse that had helped her while she stayed at the hospital acted as her hero and made Rosie want to grow up and become a children's nurse; sure she probably didn't have the patients for it but she did love children and she saw how demanding of a job it was and how busy she always was and Rosie liked that, she liked the thought of being needed and always doing something. She couldn't understand how her father, as much as she loved him, could handle and even tolerate the unexciting job of a dentist, she had often fantasied about how different their fathers life would have even if he had stuck with his singing career while he was in college. He wasn't half bad at singing but was an amazing guitar player and even showed her and her sister a few tricks, Maria could hardly pick up the interment but Rosie felt that she could handle it pretty well.

The only problem with her fulfilling her dream was that she didn't get the best of grades when she did go to school and even had to retake a class. When she applied at the children's hospital they had said they would hire her after one of their oldest staff would retire, allowing a position to open to let a few deserving people to move up in the ranks allowing an opening for a grunt, which she hoped would be her but even after a few years of waiting that old bag never retired leaving her here to work at this damn gas station.

She jumped when she heard a car screech into the parking lot. _Someone's in a hurry_. She stepped up to the register and hid her count; she didn't want anyone to know exactly how bored she was even thought it was probably very obvious. The older man ran into the store nearly knocking over a stand full of cheap kids toys. He ran towards the depleting water supply and picked up two large cases of the water bottles and ran towards the register slapping down some money. _A hundred dollar bill? Nice._ She quickly range up the water and tried her best to give him the amount of change he needed nearly clearing out her drawer in the proses.

"You better get out of the city while you can little lady," the man said in a hurry as he ran out of the store. "Cities gettin' over run!"

She leaned over the counter raising an eyebrow; this was the first time today a costumer actually talked to her. She bit her bottomed lip. _Had it really gotten worse out there since I got to work?_ On the way into work she had to take so many detours because of the heavy traffic, she ended up being twenty minutes late for work. Rosie looked over her shoulder at the old beaten up black radio. It was cracked in at least three different places; the plastic screen was so badly cracked that no numbers or anything showed when it was turned on only a sickly green glow. She took out her phone and looked at the numerous miss calls she had gotten form her sister, so far she had tried to call her ten times way over the amount that Rosie had guessed this morning. Taping her phone on the counter she finally gave into curiosity and took the radio from its dusty tomb and plugged it in at the other end of the counter away from the register. It took it a while but soon the radio began to glow and after a few fuzzy noises filled the empty station a male's voice came into some clarity.

"For those of you just tuning in we will be on the air for the remainder of this crisis, the situation at this hour does not look hopeful; all routs out of the city are jammed and mobs of what have been described as bloody corpses have been seen marching through the downtown area of Atlanta. Reports of walking dead are coming in from around the east coast and spreading into the southern states and into Canada. Whatever is going on it is not a local phenomenon; clearly this is a very dark time, a very confusing time it is unclear why or how this is happening. This just in the governor has issued this short statement. 'Stay in your homes lock your doors and barricade your windows, do not try to help or go near the infected.' "

Rosie just stared at the radio as the fuzzy news report turned into people talking about what was going on at the hospitals, by the sound of it they were going to try and evacuate the hospitals in the smaller towns and cities and have the patients stay in the hospital here. She tapped her phone on the counter wondering exactly what to do. The whole front of the station was made of glass and would most likely break if a mob tried to bust in. the only weapon she had was the gun that the owner always kept in the back room and she barely knew how to use it. When she first moved to Atlanta for college her parents gave her a gun for protection, she never used it thought and just kept it in her bedside table, it wasn't until the gas station actually had a robbery that she decided that she should at least know the basics of it. The classes were not cheap so she couldn't learn that much but it was enough that she could at least defend herself against one person or at least scare the crap out of them.

Just then another car, well van, pulled up to one of the pumps; the driver looked to be in her mid-fifties in a bright yellow suit. She jumped out of the car and quickly began to fill it up while a younger looking woman stood beside her with a bat in her hand. Rosie squinted her mint colored eyes, _was that blood on it? No it couldn't be._ After about a minute or so she pulled the gas pump out of the van, Rosie quickly turned off the radio as to not alarm the costumer, she looked freaked out at it is, but the woman never even walked towards the store, both jumped into the van an quickly took off. Rosie's mouth hung open, _Ah hell no!_

"Hey!" Rosie jumped over the counter and quickly ran to the door of the store "Ya get back here ya bitch!" she screamed "Shit!" the old man was not going to be happy about this. Kicking a small rock away from her she marched back into the store and picked up her phone.

She angrily flipped open the phone and dialed for the police. What happened next annoyed her, not because the line was busy but because she actually tried to call them even after just witnessing how many cop cars drive passed her, annoyed with the line repeatedly telling her to try and call back later she flipped the phone close again and then flipped it open again to tried to call her boss, he should at least know what had happened. As she waited for him to answer she leaned up against the counter taping her fingers in an annoyed fashion to the pace of the ringing bell, when she got to his answering machine she hung up and tried again only to once again get the machine. Letting out an annoyed grown, she hated calling people for the simple fact that she hated waiting for them to pick up so she might as well just leave the old man a message even though he hated it when employees did that. She began to tell him about the women taking off without paying for the gas. In the middle of the message she heard the all too familiar ding of the front door opening. "I got to go, another customer just walked in. bye I'll try again."

Turning around she looked up and felt her whole body go cold. When the radio said that it looked like corpses were walking around she assumed that they just looked really bad, like bruised up and maybe a little bloody but not like what she was looking at, half of his face looked as if it had been torn off leaving the rest of the skin threatening to peel off, the blood dripped all over the colure of his lavender button up shirt. His left arm was a wreck with the sleeve partially torn away revealing a nasty looking gash and his thumb looked as if it had been bitten off. Her whole body went rigged as he slowly made is way towards her reaching out his hands, Rosie backed away but not fast enough. The man reached out and grabbed for her shirt, screaming she pushed him away causing him to tear off her name tag.

In an adrenalin filled panic she ran towards the back room and tried to look for the gun. When she found it she turned around to see the man push open the door. _You idiot!_ She yelled at herself, how she could forget that the door was broken and never stayed shut!

"Stay back!" she yelled in a terror filled voice "I'll shoot if ya don't stay back!" she warned again but he just kept coming, soon he was in reach of her again. Rosie held up the gun pointed to his head and turned her head away, she closed her eyes tight until she felt the man run into the gun.

The noise was deafening and shook her body to the core, something splattered on her face and all over her shirt. Slowly she opened her eyes and let out a silent cry as she looked down at the man, half of his face had been blown off from the shot and his jaw hung open. Showing deadly teeth that looked as if it had flesh stuck in-between almost every tooth. Her while body shook as she looked down at the body, she had just killed someone, what if he just needed help and she just shot him instead of not even thinking about it. Suddenly she remembered the radio broadcast talking about how to not help them. Maybe it wasn't so stupid of an idea to go trigger happy on the guy.

Rosie looked down at herself and her eyes widened, her once white polo was almost completely covered in the man's splattered blood, with great hast she took of the stained and partly ripped shirt. She had never been so happy to wear her undershirt as she did at that moment. She looked at her hands splattered with blood and tried to wipe most of it off on the now discarded shirt, she looked at the gun that now laid abandoned on the floor; picking it up she looked at the gun to see how many bullets were left, it was an old pistol the kind that remained her of the old wild west were people would use to play Russian Roulette or wheat ever it was called.

She jumped at the sudden thud noises and moans that began to fill the disrupted silent. Silently she moved outside of the door and her eyes widened. There had to at least be a dozen out there waiting for her, there was hardly anyone out here lately just cars so how could there be so many now. She looked down at the gun and began to wonder if they knew she was here because of the noise she made when she shot the man. Looking up again she swore out loud when she saw one of the nock over her bike, _how the hell am I going to get home now? Wait should I even try to leave?_ She looked at the glass covered wall and the things getting closer and closer to pushing the door open like the other one had and decided that she would be stupid to try and stay here. That's when she also noticed the abandoned phone laying on the floor, with great swiftness as she could muster she quickly darted to the phone only to end up slipping on the blood that the guy had spilt on the floor, swearing under her breath she reached out and grabbed the phone and then quickly ran back in threw the floor, that didn't seem to make them happier, in fact just being able to a little bit of her they seemed to go crazy and brought on even more infected.

She looked at the back door behind her it lead to an alleyway were she could try to make her escape but what if they were out there waiting for her? She held the gun tight in her grip as she slowly step towards the door, she brushed her falling hair way from her face as she pressed her ear to the door, the only sound she heard was sirens off in the distant but other than that it seemed to sound clear, besides they seemed to be attracted to the front of the store not the back. She stood there for a few seconds before quickly opening the door and looking in both direction of the anyway, it was clear.

She had never been that good of a runner, she always barley passed the mile run in school which surprised people when they found out she was one of the best swimmers on the swim team, but with the adrenalin flowing threw her body she was able to run faster then she could ever imagine, down as many alleyways as she possibly could, she had come in contact with one but was able to hit it in the head with the bud of her gun leaving it dead on the ground, well deader, but also left her hand numb form the shock wave it left.

She looked down at the body; the girl looked to be about her sister's age, _oh god, Maria!_ Quickly she put the gun in her pocket and grabbed for her cell phone. With ought even thinking how stupid it was to just stand there like a worm on a hook she pressed down on the recent calls button and quickly pressed the call button. She hated waiting during phone calls but now with her impatiens at its high, she couldn't stand just waiting around at this point not knowing if her sister was ok, _why didn't I listen to her?_

"Sissy?"

Rosie laughed in relive at her sister's voice. "Maria I'm so sorry. Ya'll were right, this is really bad."

"Are ya alright? Ya weren't bit were ya? The news says that if ya bit to keep yourself isolated form people, where are ya?" her sister began to ramble on about more and more questions until Rosie finally told her to calm down. "I'm fine I was able to keep them from getting' to me, I'm not sure where I'm at right now, behind a couple buildins' but I'm sure I'm not too far from my apartment."

Rosie hard a sudden gun shot and quickly ducked and prayed that it was not nearby; she didn't want to deal with anymore of those things. "Where are ya at? Is Daddy with ya still?" she asked quickly

"I'm at home, but Daddy went to go get Mamma at the hospital." _Shit,_ she realized that it was by far the worst place for them to be at. "When did ya last hear from em?" she asked hoping that they were alright, she couldn't stand the thought of losing either one of them but as much as t make her feel guilty she knew she would feel worse if her father were to be taken from her. Ever since she could remember her and her father had always had a special bond between them that neither her sister nor mamma could understand. Many in the family would say she was his mini me.

"Daddy said he got Mamma and that they are a few minutes form the house." Rosie smiled in relief

"Are ya'll gonna to stay at home?" she asked pressing the phone close to her face waiting for her sitters replay but at that moment she looked up and her eyes widened, three of those things stepped into the alley way blocking the way that she had just come out of.

She instantly cut her sister off whatever response her sister had. "Maria I have to go I'll call ya when I get to my apartment, I love ya." She didn't wait for her sister to repay, within second of her putting the phone in her pocked she darted off in the opposed direction of where the infected were coming from.

She had to escape somehow, darting out of the ally she fund with great relief someone there for her rescue, standing in front of her were three firemen, all getting ready to climb into the crimson fire truck. Rosie quickly ran up to them waver her hands, calling out for help.

One of the men turned around and she could tell by the look of his face what was about to happen, something strong yanked on her hair pulling her back and causing her to scream in both pain and fright. As soon as she felt the grip force her back it she released and then as soon as it was released a thud noise came from behind her, she quickly turned around and saw a firefighter that she hadn't seen breathing heavily with a bloody crowbar in his hand, Rosie then looked down and saw a mutilated looking elderly man with half his face bashed in. The man looked up at her, his eyes widened as he then moved to push her aside were he then bashed in another one right on the temple.

"Where you are heading?" he asked in a rush before she could even try to thank him, thought she couldn't blame him for his rushing; his other teammates were already calling him to hurry up. Rosie pointed in the opposite direction in which the fire truck was facing.

"Shit, we can take you there then but I don't think that side of the city is that bad yet, get to your house or were ever you're going and bunker down. I hear that they're gonna send the army here so wait till you hear for everyone to evacuate to the camp their going to set up, ok?" she gave him a small nod as he then looked intensely at her, making her worried.

"Do you have a weapon?" he asked quickly.

She nodded and showed him the gun, he shook his head, and "How many times have you fired it?"

"Just once." She replied in a soft voice.

"Their attracted to laud noise, take this and only use that gun when you really need it." she looked down and expected him to hand her the crowbar but instead she saw he was handing her an axe, it was large and when she picked it up from his hand she could feel its metallic weight weigh down her hand, regardless of that she clutched the black rubber half of the handle and smiled up at him.

"Thank you."

He just nodded at her and ran to the truck hopping on as it began to zoom down the street taking out any parked cars that were in its way. Rosie backed away from the two fallen things and quickly ran down the street, the alleyway was probably not the safest rout anymore, now that she thought of it was a dumb idea to go down the alleyway; if they had come in from both sides she would have been dead. But with the alleyway she didn't have to see all of this. As amazing as that man was to help her, she had the feeling that he didn't actually know how bad this side of town was.

She never once paused as she darted threw the falling city, cars were flying all over the place trying to find a way out while other people were running around her, she couldn't even tell if the people running away were the infected or not, everyone seemed to be covered in the blood and gore of the infected or even their own blood. Rosie knew she probably didn't look that good as well.

Rosie tried to hop over a dead body but ended up stripping over his ripped open stomach, it was almost a good thing that she tripped over him, for where she would have been if she didn't was squished between a large bus and a minivan. Rosie quickly took hold of her new weapon as the infected began to flow from the bus, a few went after a large group of people who also almost were run over but the other half went after her, she didn't take any chance, she raised her axe and took a chop of the closes one's neck and was shocked that it went all the way through; then again the blade looked extremely sharp and she didn't have that bad of an arm, ever since Maria started softball in elementary school Rosie had helped her with her pitching and in the end it helped Rosie with her swing.

As soon as the second one fell she hit the next on the top of the head letting a flow of blood gush onto her hand causing her to almost lose grip of the axe. Looking up from the fallen infected she saw that more were coming out of the bus, the fastest rout home was blocked by them, and she had no choice but to try and run threw them. Rosie took off and dogged around their slow moving arms. At least they were slower than her, all she had to do was keep up the pace but there was a problem all this running around was causing her muscles in her legs to feel painfully numb, like she was running with noodles for legs. She desperately wanted to let her head fall to rest her neck but she needed to keep her eyes in fount of her.

With every step she had to doge either a vehicle, person, or infected, this had to be a nightmare; _no way this is real. I had to have fallen asleep at work or even better I have over slept and am still in bed._ Rosie turned the corner at top speed making her slip on a freshly spilt puddle of crimson blood. She didn't let the fall stop her, picking back up her weapon she took a swing at the bloody arm of a man in a green button down with half of his mouth chewed up. His arm fell off easily and she soon realized something, right in fount of her was her apartments. Dogging the green shirted thing she made a mad rush to the glass doors, looking back she saw that the now one armed infected was accompanied by a large black man with only one eye and a skinny tall blond with a large wound on her arm. Her eyes widened with fear as she reached the door and pulled on the handle.

It was lock, the door was never locked, and that was not how the building was like. It wasn't the kind were you had to buzz yourself in; you could go in and out at any time. She slammed her fist again the glass and began to just scream, no words but just screamed at the top of her lungs.

Tears of anger fell from her eyes as she slammed her fist against the glass, how could salvations be so close, so there, but someone so cruel had to keep it away. She opened her eyes and saw in the reflection of the glass the things coming closer, the pure animalistic stare in their eyes made her blood go cold.

_I don't want to die._

She began to pull on the handle of the door over and over again. "I don't want to die!" she screamed slamming her eyes shut as she let out all the hate form today all the frustration out of the glass, just as her fist were about to attack the glass again she felt it come away, "Hurry!" she opened her eyes and a wave of relief came over her as the boy form the elevator held the door open for her, she threw herself in threw the door as the boy slammed them shut and relocked them.

She looked at the lobby, she had always hated it, and it seemed so cold and boring with pea green walls and cold gray cement floors, it was so boxy and enclosed with one elevator across from the entrance and apartment doors on either side of her. She used to hate its cold alone feeling, but now beside the fact that it smelt like mildew and now blood, despite the fact that the floor she fell onto was cold, that she hated the color of the wall she now rested against she had never been so happy to see this damn place.

She looked at her blood stained pants and felt as her tears began to pour down her face, how did this happen?

She looked up at the boy who was holding a blood stained bat in his hand, judging by his slightly damped hair and clean face he had just got done washing whatever blood was once on his face, but his pants and shirt were covered in blood along with part of his arm and all of his hands. As the things came closer to the glass and began to pound on it he backed away and turned, he walked to where she was sitting and grabbed her hand yanking her up from the floor and pulling her towards the elevator, as the doors shut she found herself looking at the reflection.

She had never really cared about how her hair was; usual she just got out of the shower and would occasionally brush it down, and hell when it came to her cloths she was actually voted in her senior class to have the least sense of style. But she didn't really care; if it felt comfortable and did its job she liked it. But looking at her reflection now she felt so disgusted, her hair was a tangled mess, barley hanging in by her hair peace, and her black pants were covered in gore and were ripped at her right hip. But worse was that her face was splattered with blood from when she had shot that man in the gas station. She looked like she had just survived a horror movie but had lost everything that she once was.

Her shoulders began to shake as she held the axe close to her chest smearing more blood onto her body as she began to weep, she jumped when she felt a warm weight rest on her shoulders, she turned her head to see they boys warm eye staring into hers with a sad smile on his face place his arm around her, he held up a key that she had only seen the owner of the apartments and his family carry, he reached out with it towards the numbers on the elevator and placed it where the key to the top floor would go, he turned it and pressed the button to the fifth floor.

"Goin' up?"

* * *

Please leave a comment about what you think :) I'll have a new chapter out soon.


	2. Chapter 2 Evacuation pt 1

_The sirens scream wanton attention, time to take heed and change direction, time to take stock and make omissions, evacuation, evacuation; time to take leave of formal functions, time to plant seeds of reconstruction, more time, this time, to feign reluctance. Pearl Jam_

* * *

Black Helicopter flew pass the small window, a dirt covered hand draw back the deep purple curtain, a pair of green eyes stared out into the dark sky as the light shined upon the window blinding her already dark adjusted eyes. The voice shouting form the helicopters speakers told her the same thing as it did last night, and the night before that.

"Those who are still alive pleas remain in your homes; the army is clearing out the city and will be here soon to help evacuate you into the safe zone of the city. I repeat for those of you who are still alive please remain in your home and to not go out on to the streets."

The man who had saved her was right, a day after she was first encounter the infected the army did show up and start to clear out the city, it was a slow proses and was taking nearly forever for them to make it to this side of the city but they had cleared a majority of it out and even had refugees from other cities go through screening so that they could also enter the new safe zone. The helicopter soon left the block, allowing the sky to be free from its blinding light and allowing the rising sun to slowly make its way into the sky again. _Thank god, I have never hated the dark as much as I do now._ Rosie backed away from the window and continued to search threw out the abandoned apartment.

It had been eleven days since she had reached her apartment and bunkered down with the remaining attendants on the top floor of the complex. the only problem was, even though it was good to have so many numbers, seventeen people were a lot of mouths to feed and they were already running low on the stored water and canned food they had all brought form their apartments, this left them to start rummaging through the other abandoned apartments to find either some more food, water, batteries, even some cloths and hopefully some diapers for the two month old that was speared form her infected parents.

"Rosie, did ya find anythin'?" she turned around and meet Anthony's flashlight shining right in to her eyes, she grimiest at the light and held up her arm to shield it and to show him the bag full of batteries, sop, and a crank charger. That had to be her biggest find, with this batteries wouldn't be that needed because nearly half of their phones had a flashlight in it and with this they could now charge their phones. The power on their block had gone out three days ago and the radio said that it won't be coming back on for a while. It was annoying but they could deal with it but it did make scavenging for supplies twice as creepy even in the day time because they now couldn't use the elevator since there were no stairs to the top floor they had to use the fire escape to go to the fourth floor to use the stares, the Charlie's notice them climbing almost every time and would surround the bottom of the fire escape scaring the crap out of them all, every single time.

Anthony let out a chuckle, "Sorry didn't mean to blind ya." She smiled at him it was nice to know his name now, referring him to elevator boy or guy across the hall in her head was getting a little annoying.

"It's ok, got us some really good stuff, no food thought. What about ya'll?" she asked walking towards him, he ruffled this curly blond hair and let out a sigh, "I think we're gonna have to brave the first floor, Cody and I couldn't find nothin." This was bad, they had searched every floor except the first floor for the simple reason that they didn't know if the glass door held or not, they had cleared out the other floors, there were a few infected but nothing they couldn't handle. And if Cody, Anthony's best friends, couldn't find anything despite his great savaging skills they had no choice but to brave the first floor.

Walking over to the end of the neatly made bed Rosie picked up her trusty friend and gripped it tightly, "Shall we tell Cody the delightful news then?"

Anthony nodded and moved out of the apartment with her tailing behind him. She didn't know how it started, maybe because they were the youngest and most fit adults but she, Anthony, and Cody became the sole scavengers and just before most of the group would wake up they would sneak through the fire escape and climb down to different floors, it was scary at first because some of the renters had been bit and went back home not knowing what would happen to them, most of them died in bed leaving them mostly contained in their bed rooms but more often than not they roamed the halls of the floor bumping into each other moaning out in hunger whenever they saw the survivors.

At first they had found a lot of food, then when they went to their own floor were their homes were they cleared it out fast knowing were each and every thing was, that trip both boys were smiling ear to ear at the amount of roman they had in their apartment; with the amount of food they had found almost every one of the top floor believed that it would last them for mounts, almost all of it was gone in just five days.

* * *

They found Cody in the hall way digging through the bag he had partly filled, Rosie walked over to the tall skinny man, he was the totally stereotype of a skater, skinny jeans and band t-shirts with long black hair that he had to constantly flip away from his face he turned and smiled at them his lip ring making a slight shine form the flashlight. He threw the bag over his shoulder and stood up to them with his crowbar in hand.

"Guess you didn't do as good as we did, did you?" his accent wasn't southern at all, he had actual grew up in the Midwest, moving down here because of a girl he had met on line; he never mentioned her after telling her that so Rosie had to guess that she had turned into the living dead and he didn't want to talk about it or they just didn't hit it off after he moved here.

"Speak for yourself." Rosie smirked at him as she threw the crank charger at him, he nearly dropped it which would have been bad but as soon as he got a good grip on it and a good look at it he started to let out a loud "Whoo hoo! Does it work?" Cody asked as he examined it his face beaming, with this they could not only use this as a way to charge their phones flashlight but also as a way to possibly get in contact with their families. Amazingly the cell towers were still working allowing them to still be able to call their family's' she guessed that they were still working so that people could get a hold of their family to know that they were alright. Probably to that people wouldn't go on a wild goose chase after their family who had already left to go find other family members.

"Don't know, but it doesn't look like it's been abused so my guess is that were good." She said with a smile, at that moment she felt the weight of her cell phone in her pocked. She had been able to call her sister when she first when into her new room to wash up, Maria told her with great relief that both of their parents were alright and that they had barricade the house while able to fend off those things. She remembers how Anthony had to come into check on her and was at first startled because she had just collapsed form the sudden weight of the thought of losing her family being lifted from her. _Maybe we will be ok, maybe we can make it thought this. And now with Atlanta slowly being cleared and able to take in refugees that thought may be right. This could all come to an end soon._

She jumped at the sudden tap on her shoulder, looking up she saw Cody give her a wink and nodded towards the room behind them, with an annoyed look as she gathered her stuff and walked towards the door, she hated using the fire escape as a way through the floors, it as dangerous and if they were too loud could attract way to many of the infected. The boys always joked about how nervous she got but Rosie was sure they were just as afraid as she was.

Swinging her leg across the window seal she slowly moved her way out of the apartment and stood on the black medial floor that shook with every small movement, it didn't help that in the corners were it was attached to the building there was rust. _I hate this._

Anthony must have seen her face and read what she was thinking. "Just don't look down, how many times have we've done this?" _To many times._

Rosie whipped the sweat of her hands onto her green shorts and began to ascend up the flight of stairs, it wasn't like she hated heights not at all it was the falling part she didn't like. But its wasn't that extreme of a fear she could still go on air planes and wasn't to nerviest when it came to roller-coaster, her sister loving those and making her go on them forced her to get used to them, but her real fear was spiders; didn't matter how small or dangerous even daddy longlegs gave her the creeps, her fear had almost caused Anthony to believe she had just got bit when she screamed after a spider crawled over her hand while she was going through her apartment trying to find some more food she may have missed on the first run. He had yelled at her like no other, she had never seen someone so mad before but it didn't really help the fight when he found out the reason she didn't answer him after she screamed was because she had her headphones in and was playing music.

Well she took that back, when they first went scavenging they had yet to clear out any floors, when they reached the fourth floor she didn't even wait for the boys to say anything, she saw and infected and something snapped, she ran straight to it and slammed her axe's blade right into it face almost cutting the head in half, and even with the boys yelling at her form the elevation she kept goin down that hall taking out as many as she could until Anthony finally turned her around and slapped her across the face, it wasn't to hurt her but to snap her out of what ever had come over her. That was quiet a fight, it was only broken up when Cody busted up laughing, she didn't know what was causing him to just up laughing until he called her Lerroy Jenkins, she didn't get it but Anthony rolled his eyes and explained that he was a character on some computer game that ignored his teammates plans and ran straight into danger. She found in annoying but looking back on all their missions it seemed to be true, without even them telling each other to go or without any plans she would run strait into the hall taking out any infected that go tin her way. But she couldn't help it; something just always came over her.

As they reached the top floor they put their filed bags at the bottom of the window seal inside the apartment, she was about to climb back in when Anthony grabbed her arm, turning around she gave him a questionable look until she remembered what they had to do that day.

"What are you two waiting for?" Cody asked, but when they looked at him his smile faded as he realized what they were thinking, "You have got to be kidding me."

"Where almost out of food." Anthony said in a form of defense against his idea.

There was a bit of a pause between the three of them, all thinking different things, but all those things related to once simple fact, if the door was still intact, then they could get in and out no problem all they would really need to do is make sure the stairwell was clear and go down that way instead of the fire escape; but if it wasn't intact, if the floor was full of the infected then going down there would kill all three of them.

"What are ya'll doin'?" The three young adults turned their head to look at Angela, she was a middle aged black woman with short black hair and soft features, but like nearly everyone in the building including Rosie and the boys, she had dark circles under her eyes. Hardly anyone would or could get any sleep with the possibility of being attacked or having to evacuate at any moment.

Before Rosie could reply Anthony stepped forward and told Angela what he was waiting us to do. Rosie saw the woman's brown eyes widen. "ya can't be serous, do ya know how dangerous that is!" she raised her voice but then covered her mouth and turned to see if she had disturbed her daughter Kelly it was a rarity if that child were to fall asleep she was deftly afraid of the dark and this whole experience has been hard for her, unlike Rosie Kelly didn't know if her father was alright.

"Look, it's the only way we can keep the group alive, ya know were almost outta food and the first floor may be our only way to live." Anthony stated hoping the woman would listen, Rosie didn't know how it happened; maybe it was when they were assigned to the same room as her and her daughter but she became a motherly figure to them to the point where they had to ask her if it was ok to go out and scavenge, it took her awhile to say yes but they had to do it before Kelly were to wake up. Kelly became close to the three of them calling them her brothers and sister so when they announced that they were going to go scavenge Kelly had a fit and tried to hold them back from the window whenever they tried to leave but her eight year old arms could not hold them back but it was painful see her so sad so they agreed to leave early in the morning before the sun were to rise so that when they got back she would be still a sleep.

Angela still didn't like them going down there but she usually always gave in, her daughter was growing skinnier, and needed food. _Hell were all become thinner, but that would happen to anyone who was reduced to two small meals a day._

After a bit of silent arguing between the boys and Angela she finally convinced them to talk to the rest of the group before they go all gun ho on the idea, it did have the possible risk of every one of the floor if they were to accidently let some of the infected near the fire escape it could destroying their only safe hold.

* * *

Whenever the floor had a discussion about something whether it was how to ration the food, what to do now that the power was out or even how to keep the halls clean they did the meeting in the hall way with some oil lamps that Sam, the old Vietnam vet, let us use to light up the dark windowless long hallway.

When Rosie was brought up to the first floor she realize how wrong she was about them being nicer rooms up here, the only difference was that each room was a two bedroom unlike the other floors which only had two rooms for each floor like that. But other than that they were the exact same layout, a small living room when you walk in with a kitchen to the right, even had the same gas stove, and to the left of the living room was a small hallway to a small bath room an then next to that was a bedroom, but unlike hers on the other side of the same wall on the living room was a door to a slightly larger bedroom. It may seem roomier but with having to put five, even seven people into one apartment it got crowded fast.

And with that big of a group in a small apartment, well it only made sense to hold big meetings in the hallway, and in the center of those meetings was the old battery operated radio set on loud so that everyone could hear if there was any vital information or possible call for them to leave to go to the army base that was set up in all different parts of the city, it was on during the nightshift look out, someone was always meant to keep watch going up and down the halls in cause of a break in but they were also reasonable for listing in to the radio and informing anyone if the need to leave. But now the radio was turned down so that everyone could listen in on Anthony's idea.

And they did listen but hardly anyone liked it. She could tell that the majority of the older adult felt bad for them always having them go and do the dangerous work, she did at first felt like she as being used simply because she had a good arm and was young enough to handle the strain but old enough to handler herself, and it was the safe for Anthony and Cody but after while she felt good, needed, like she was a part of them and was not just some useless sap waiting around to be cared for.

Though using the younger adults was almost like an elephant in the room, no one mentioned how it was cruel that they were using them, throwing them into. Yes there were a few of the infected but they were able to handle it but now, with them possible going to the first floor for the group, to keep the one that were just sitting around being cared of feed and taken car for, it caused those who didn't think it was right to let the elephant be seen and heard.

"Let's face it! We are using these kids!" Angela cried out making the arguing group become oddly quiet, "Almost every other day these kids have been going out and risking their lives to try and keep us comfortable. When we run out of shampoo Cody nearly got bit trying to get us some new bottles, when we were hungry they threw cation into the wind and went out of their way to get us some fore food and not once have we replayed them with anythin', some of ya I know have yet to even thank them and now after carelessly eatin' away the food not even trying to preserve it ya want them to go to the ground floor and commute suicide!" Everyone was silent staring up at the angered woman; Anthony slowly reached up and grasped a hold of her clenched fist.

"Angela, don't worry this was my idea not theirs." His voice was calm as he pulled the angered woman down, "I have solution to this, it may sound a little Kiddush but hell I got nothin' else to think of."

He looked out into the group and then with the most serious look she had ever seen him give he said in a cool voice. "Show of hands, who wants us to go to the first floor for food."

Kathy, a preppy eighteen year old girl who always talked way to loud, busted out in a laugh; "Ya have got to be kiddin' me! What are we in preschool? The only way we can survive still is if ya do go down there and get us food, so stop slakin' off and sitting here and go get it." She looked rather pleased with her self on what she said; Rosie on the other hand had enough of the girl.

"You're such a bitch." Kathy shot Rosie a glare, "excuse me?"

"I'm sorry, did I studda?" Kathy narrowed her eyes, "I'll repeat myself then, you're a bitch, who the hell ya think has been feedin' ya fat ass these pass couple of days? Ya leather head of a boyfriend?" Rosie said clearing right back at the snobby Burnett who just flipped her hair and looked at her boyfriend Michele whose face was as expressionless as ever, Rosie wondered exactly how many brain cells were left in his head. Rosie didn't know their names until this hand happened she and the rest of the renters knew them as the party animals of the complex, either coming in late at night drunk off their ass or throwing their own party.

"Michele!" she yelled in an annoyed tone, "Did ya hear what that read neck called me?"

"Enough!" Anthony yelled at both of the girls, "Just shut up and raise your hands if you do want us to go to the first floor." Rosie noticed that he emphasized on the 'do' she also noticed him raising his own hand after he said that making Angela lowing her head and Kelly make a pouty face. It was already obvious they were not going to raise their hand; she looked out onto the circled group. Brian, an overweight plumber with receding hair line, held the baby in his arms; he looked down at the baby, Ella, then at the room he shared with the owner's family, back down at the baby then towards us with a sad look in his eyes, he slowly raised his hand. She could understand why, the baby's parents were infected and Brian had actually saved the infant while checking up on them, they were good friends. They were running low on formula also Ella's parents did live on the first floor. So she could understand why Brian would want them to go.

Aali, the owner was a tall skinny dark skinned Egyptian man he was always quiet and hardly ever talk while his wife Jillian was friendly and very talkative but now she was just as quiet both looked at each other than at Anthony shaking their heads, their daughter Lucy on the other hand, who was only two years older than Kelly did raise her hand, she wasn't out there when everything had happened actually she had a bad cold and stayed home that day with her parents so she never even saw one in person just on the TV, she didn't understand the real danger not like Kelly who was rescued by her mother and had to run threw an infected city. Her grandmother, who everyone just called grannie, just smiled as she looked down at the radio, she was always out of it but she didn't raise her hand so either she didn't want them to go or she wasn't paying attention when her daughter Jillian was trying to explain what was going on Aali's brother just shook his head at the old woman and raised his hand; he was a selfish man always wanting everything for him. Form wheat she had gathered Rosie had the feeling that had at one point have a good job but got into something bad, what it was she wasn't sure but he had lost his job because of it and lead him to now staying in one of his brothers apartments for free. She wasn't surprised that his freeloading ass did want them to go down there.

Kathy and Michele were a no surprise to her when she saw them raise their hands, she was sure that Kathy wanted them to get bit. _Bitch_. One more person form their room raised their hand, Amanda, she was scary, all excited about this and loved how many she had killed but in her killing spree she had badly hurt her arm to the point that Rosie had to declare it broken and tried her best with the medical supplies they had to try and set it to heal properly until they could evacuate to a hospital. Jeffery, a very quiet sixteen year old who had lost both his parents shook his head no and then along with Sam an old Vietnam vet who kept referring to the infected as 'Charlie' old habits die hard she guessed but he was cool and a good shot though only reason why he couldn't go with them during the scavenging even though he wanted to go was because the only way he could get around was with a cane, he could walk faster than the infected but climbing threw windows and down fire escapes was a bit trickier.

She began to count the amount, she at first wondered if she should count the old woman's vote but it only seemed fair to count it since they were counting the kids. That meant they had seven down and six up with two more votes to go, hers and Cody's.

Rosie turned to look at Anthony's who turned to look right at her, she wouldn't lie to herself there was no way she wanted to go down there but he was right they do need the food, pluses he depended on her vote. _Damn hormones._

Now it was a tie, she looked over at Cody who just shook his head. "Shit." He mumbled and he ran his hand threw his hair. "Damn it man I, I can't. I'm sorry man I just can't." Anthony slammed his hand down on his knee.

"Cody we are starvin'!" Cody just shook his head and looked away

"No were not were just a little hungry and, and look we still have some canned food left and the radio said that their almost done clearing out this section of the city, we can last that long."

Anthony stood up and looked up into Cody's face his was red with anger, at that point Rosie had enough, she stood up and walked into their room. She was sure none of them even noticed since everyone seemed to be fighting at this moment Rosie guessed that the stress of everything has finally gotten to them. She walked over to where she had left her axe grasped it along with her empty shoulder bag. She walked over to the window and pulled up on the screen; _if they can't decide I'll just do the deciding for them_. As much as she hated going down there they really didn't have a choice the food will run out eventually and it was obvious that the baby was starting to starve.

The Burnett pulled out her phone from her pocked and uncoiled the cord around it, putting the ear buds into her head she turned on the newly charged phone and scrolled threw her songs. Just before she was about to press play, as she got to the third floor she heard someone call out her name, taking out one of the buds form her ear and looked up to see a freshly punched in the cheek Anthony looking down at her.

She looked up at him half expecting him to yell for her to hold up till he grabbed his bat, but instead he called for her to hurry back up. "Why?" she called back as she turned to go up the stars.

"Cuz we need to pack before we leave." There was a strange look on his face and the more she got closer to him the more it confused her. It was as if he was worried yet relived at the same, time if that was even possible. Did he agree with them to not go down stars? She was about to ask him when she heard the radio now blaring form the open doors to the hallway.

"I repeat, the army located in downtown Atlanta has issued an emergency evacuation, all save holds have been overrun and everyone is issued to evacuate the city, they have made sure that interstate 85 is clear for those still with a vehicle can make it out of there but for those stuck on foot there will be helicopters landing till tomorrow night at these locations, police departments at 763 Juniper Street Northeast, and 398 Centennial Olympic Park Drive, they will also be landing at The South-side Medical Center at 1046 Ridge Ave, I repeats. The army has been called in helicopters to help evacuate the city they will be at the police departments at 763 Juniper Street Northeast and 398 Centennial Olympic Park Drive; they will also be landing at The South-side Medical Center at 1046 Ridge Ave till tomorrow night. I will stay on the air for the rest of those days and will also be one of the last to evacuate; I and my fellow crew will be at the Medical Center. Please remember to stay safe and if you can get into a vehicle for protection if you can." The news caster went on to tell more information but Anthony's voice took over.

"Ya better start packin' before ya end up getting' left behind," he held out his hand to Rosie, she blushed a bit taking his hand in hers, he pulled her threw the window. "And I don't want that." He smiled at her then turn to his corner of the room where he started to pack.

She could hear orders in the hall on what to pack and what not to pack. She ignored most of it, why should they tell her what she would need or not they don't know her well enough to know what she needed to survive, she walked over to the couch were she had been sleeping and gathered all of her cloths into a pile. Most of them she had owned since she was in high school, some even middles school. She had a habit of not ever shopping for clothes. She looked at the newly bought cloths her mother had gotten her a few months ago when she come to visits with Maria. At first she found it annoying to have new cloths, they always smelt weird to her and her tiny closet could hardly fit the cloths she did have now she was happy she had them each atrial had a memory of her mother, she found that everything she had seemed to represent someone in her family, her mamma was her cloths, her sister was her phone, and the music in the phone or any song stuck in her head was her father. There was no way she was not going to leave her pone or headphones behind, and she as sure as hell not going to leave any cloths her mamma recently bought for her behind.

Thought she wanted to keep every article of clothing her mother had ever bout her Rosie decided against it and just packed cloths that would either keep her cool in the summer and if this were to go onto winder cloths she could easily layer and keep her worm. It was difficult to pack seven tops, hell has was barely able to fit in the blazer like black coat she had but there was no way she was going to wear it in this heat she was already sweating just by wearing her magenta short sleeved shirt. Her three jeans and two shorts weren't that bad to pack but her knee high boats were a pain in the ass, she had to give up on stuffing more stuff into the green shoulder bag and sorted it to her side as she had to resort to packing most of the cloths in the tan pack back, with some room in there thought she shuffled a full canteen of water and a few cans of food, she looked over at Cody to make sure he had packed the cranked charger, if she was going to bring her phone she wanted to make sure that the charger was going with them.

He was actually in the middle of wrapping it in some of his shirts to make sure it fit and was protected. She smiled as she reached for her phone, but her smiled faded when she saw how many bars of service were left, if she were to call them the chances of it going threw were slim and if it did the chances of her understanding what they were saying threw the static with be nearly impossible. She felt a hand rest on her shoulder, she looked up brushing her hair away from her face, and Anthony smiled down at her. "Come on, were about to make a plan."

She nodded and stood up haling the heavy back pack onto her back, before she left the room she took one last look, grabbed her axe and then shut the door. When she stepped into the hall it looked as if they were in another meeting but this time there will be no votes, everyone knew they might end up having to evacuate from the apartments, but like her they had just hoped that the evacuating meant that they would be transported to the military base in the city for their protection and not to get out to the city because the military was over run.

This Chapter was a lllllllllloooooonnnnnggg one :p so I'm still editing the second half of it and will have it up hopefully before Friday.


	3. Chapter 3 Evacuation pt 2

_There was a solemn man who watched his twilight disappear, in the sand, altered by a fallen eagle, a warning sign. He sensed worry could be strength, with a plan he said time for, evacuation, evacuation, evacuation. Perl Jam_

* * *

She sat down next to Anthony and watched as Aali unfolded a map of Atlanta, Jillian handed her husband a highlighter for him to high light every area that the helicopters were going to land at and after pushing up his small square glasses he then used a black sharpie to make a dot to represent their location, the apartment was in the middle of downtown, about a twelve minuet walk form the downtown connector, Aali marked the apartment and then without asking anyone made a markup Forsyth street then over Marietta street till the path went up centennial Olympic park drive till he finally hit the police station on that same street, she had never walked there but it didn't look that far, maybe a twenty minuet walk form here, but that was before all of this when they didn't have to hid anytime an infected came along or have the possibility of battling them if need be.

398 Centennial Olympic Park Drive, she looked at the group of people, some clenching their weapons some not, all were looking at Aali and his brother as they discussed with each other in their native tongue, after a while they looked up at Rosie, cody, and Anthony. "Which fire escape is usually lest crowded?" Anthony shook his head as he tried to think, no matter the escape they used there were always one or two, sometimes even five Charleys' waiting down there for them.

Aali must have understood him because he just folded up the map so that it only showed the path they needed to take, it was a simple path but Rosie was sure they would end up having a hell of a time getting to the police department without running into a horde of them.

Aali stood up and nodded at the map then he looked up to Rosie and the others. "Come then ladies and gentlemen, shall we get moving then?" there was a small smile on his face as he turned and walked towards his apartment, it's fire escape was closest to the front of the apartment.

Rosie stood up and fallowed the group as the middle aged man lead them to his window, it was so strange, before half of the group were arguing about if they should or shouldn't go down to the first floor and now every single one of them will be heading to, not only the ground floor, but the outside were there was a not even a slight chance they knew they would run into the infected, _Charlie is out there awaiting for us and now he will finally get to see us again. _Infect she knew that there had to be some down there, she could hear their moans.

The young woman looked around the group as they slowly began to climb over the window and onto the fire escape; with that baby, the old woman, the kids and the vet how were they going to be able to make it even pass a few blocks in an infected Charlie filled Atlanta. She watched as Sam climbed shakily over the window, he almost slipped once casing Jeffery to let out a small yell making the baby fuss in Jillian's arm. If we make it through the next block it will be a miracle. Rosie knew it was bad to think this way but she felt that if they didn't have to bring the old man and woman, or even the baby they might, no would have a better chance at getting to the police station alive.

She let out a sigh, clutched her axe and headed out of the window, when she made it onto the third floor she looked down to see Aali looking up at the building with a sad look in his eye; she knew that his parents moved here when he was a teenager, him and his brother probably grew up in this building, how he became the owner she wasn't sure maybe his parents started it up or they had bought it whatever it was she could tell hit hurt him to leave it.

"Rosie?" the girl turn her head to see Jeffery looking up at her with a worried frown on his face, she smiled at him to make him know she was going to be ok, despite the fact that she knew in her gut something bad was going to happen.

Making their way down the fire escape was hectic for Rosie and the group, Sam's cane kept getting couth in the tiny holes of the floor and grannie began to freak out and want to go back inside of the apartment, she was yelling something to Jillian about a cat, Lucy had to remind her grandmother several times that they didn't have a cat since she herself was a baby. Once they got new the ground floor they saw one of the floor windows to an apartment broken into with a corpse's body hanging halfway out. There was a hole in his head that looked to have been form a gun shot. It was possible for that to happen in the apartment without them knowing; the night that Rosie had been rescued by Anthony there were countless of gun shots going off throughout the city, but looking into the broken window they realized that it was a good thing grannie had went hysteric and blasted the radio speakers, if she didn't Rosie would have been down there alone against an army of Charlie's.

When they all reached to the second floor both brothers began to slowly lower the latter to the ground floor trying to make sure that they didn't add to the amount of Charlie's there already were. As the metallic latter hit the ground the infected began to surround the base of it, more joined them called form their moan and to her surprise she saw the infected at had chased her into the building the first day, the one who's arm she had cut off looked twice as rotted, she guessed it was due to them baking out in the sun all day, if he was there they must not have broken the door in, that or they came from inside the building.

As the amount of infected grew to six, those with weapons began to line up to go down the latter, she wondered what they could use to kill the majority of them, she saw Amanda go towards the latter, she hooked her bad arm around the latter's steps and beg into climb down with a deadly hunting knife in her mouth, where she had gotten it form Rosie had no idea but she was glad Amanda had it.

Cody leaned over the railing hissing down a "What in the hell you doing?" she ignored him and kept climbing down until she was close enough for them to reach up and grab her, she swung her body so that it was partly wrapped around the latter, she whistled for the decaying corps to come closer. To everyone's surprise the thing began to try and clime the latter, Rosie was sure Amanda smiled and began to praise the thing, as soon as it climbed up close enough she raised her knife and bought it down on its head, its body shuddered and then went lip as she pulled the knife out. When the body fell down to the ground everyone realized what she was doing, dwindling the numbers. She did this for a few more, but some, like the one armed one, couldn't make it up close enough to her and thankfully Amanda wasn't brave enough to get any closer instead she climbed up the latter leaving the three Charlies wiled up and hungry.

"Well, that was my idea, anyone got anythin' else?" she asked everyone smiled at her, thought she didn't get rid of all of them it was a great way to dwindle down the numbers, but as soon as she finished whipping off the bloody knife on her jeans they heard the moaning noises of more walking up to the latter, now there were five. "Those goddamn bastards!" she yelled, causing Kathy to smack her shoulder hissing a shut up, and for once Rosie agreed with the girl, any more noise and they really will be over the head, Rosie's eyes suddenly widened as she got a crazy idea, she lightly pushed Amanda aside while handing her backpack and shoulder bag to Brian,

Before anyone could ask what she was up to Rosie held tight onto her axe and began to climb down the latter, when she reached closed to the infected she turned her body and jumped clear over the infected heads, it wasn't to far of a jump so the impact didn't hurt her to bad, just a slight scrape on her knee, she quickly stood up and turned to see the infected as they started towards her. Thought that was what she had intended for them to do she still didn't like the scene of them getting closer to her.

Rosie raised her axe and brought it down on one of their heads knocking it down, when it fell she attacked the one behind it until the numbers went down to just two more, one was the tiny blond and the other was the man in the green shirt, she raised her weapon and as they came closer she went to swing but was thrown off when the one armed infected flew sideways knocking over the blond in the proses.

She yelled out "Hay!" as Anthony beat in the head of the man, "Wheat." Cody said as he then smashed in the face of the blond. Rosie shook her head, "what?"

"You said hey, I said wheat." He replayed still swinging away at the head. Rosie gave him an annoyed look as the other attendees began to climb down the latter there where a few congratulations on her stupid bravery and even had Amanda ruffle her messy hair when she walked past her muttering a way to steal my idea in a joking matter. She looked over at Anthony when he walked pass her, she thanked him but he said nothing and just kept walking to help Aali with getting Sam and then Grannie down form the latter.

_What's up with him?_ The thought as Brian gave her back her bags, She thanked him and then began to walk over to Anthony to ask when Aali called for everyone to listen, she turned towards the older man who tried his best to talk with ought gagging, either form the smell or the carnage laying at his feet she couldn't tell, she herself was just starting to get used to the smell but the carnage was a different thing.

"Keep the kids in the middle, those without weapons surround the kids, those with weapons surround them. Do not lose formation," everyone nodded and started to get into formation, Aali took the fount with his shovel in hand and his brother on his right welding a rather large hammer, Brian stood on his left and held onto a wrench, Rosie thought this was rather comical considering he is, well, was a plumber. Rosie stood next to him fallowed by Anthony, Sam who said that he would be fine as long as he had his can Rosie hopped the old man could keep up with them while they moved, Cody was on the old man's right with Angela holding onto a simple kitchen knife and last was Michele who simply slipped on brass knuckles over his hand.

_What a morron, how could he use something so close contact at that?_ Suddenly she remembered the two guns stashed away in her backpack, the revolver from her work and the simple pistol her parents gave her. She didn't tell any of them about the guns, the only ones who knew about it were Cody and Anthony. They had promised not to tell the group merely because of the fact that she didn't want them to use the bullets to much, there wasn't that many to begin with and she didn't know how long they could last. _I almost might need them as a last resort._

Rosie looked up into the sky, it had to be at least be in the afternoon by now, she hadn't' realized how fast the day was going by. Rosie begin to worry that they wouldn't make it to the police station in just one day, it seemed hard to believe that a twenty minute walk could take several hours just to hopefully make it half way there. _I just hope this is going to be worth it in the end._

The front of the building was surprisingly clear; she guessed that they had already taken out the ones not still occupied by the other fires escape leaving the front clear for them to slowly move down the middle of the street. They stayed quiet as they walked along, Rosie and the others near the back had to keep their head turned contently to make sure no infected were sneaking up from behind them. Rosie couldn't help but smile as they started to walk over a bridge, _maybe it wasn't that bad in this part of town, after all the whole time the army was fighting them the gunshots and everything else could be going on in the other side of town. _Her smile quickly faded when Cody let out a curse under his breath just loud enough of her, and Anthony to hear, when she turned her head to look at what he was cursing at she saw three charley's began to walk out of the large brick building they had just passed moments ago.

"Don't panic," Anthony whispered "where moving too fast for them" he then started to raise his voice to alert the group about their followers. That's when Michele announced for then to look below the bridge, they did and Rosie felt her blood run cold, a dozen of Charlie's began to walk out form a parking complex just underneath the building they were coming up to at the end of the bridge. If there's that many underneath the building how many will come out of the top floor?

She clenched onto her weapon as they began to come up onto the building and just as they began to pass it the empty streets began to fill with the moans of hidden infected. _Shit, how we are going to get passed all of them, especially when we can barely go faster than them. _She glanced at the elder man and woman, and to her surprise she saw that the man was actually walking almost as fast as the rest of the group but what had really shocked her was that Kathy was helping the old woman, pushing her along allowing them to get passed the building that was sure to hold hundreds of those things.

"Stay in formation!" Aali called out as they passed a busted in Checks Cashed, she looked in side and saw infected beginning to climb out of the building, scraping their routing bodies against the broken glass, and cutting into their skins shredding it away. Rosie had to look away, but looking a head of her only made things even worse. Tall buildings loomed ahead of her nearly every window was stained with blood making her stomach drop; the pile up that had formed at the coming intersecting didn't help. Bodies were flung onto the road, their heads cracked open, some of the bodies looked as if they had been eaten away so much that they had nothing left to allow them to regenerate.

They turned right, but halted at the sight of a long road with countless of Charlie's spread out, somewhere under the wheels of tires, or even in the cars. But a majority of them were walking around and now walking towards them, "keep moving, and don't stop!" Hakim commanded as he moved forward bringing the whole group with him. _This is suicide._

As they tried to move quickly down the street Rosie fought the urge to take off and run, going this slow, barley faster than Charlie was unbearable for her.

"Don't."

"What?" Rosie asked looking at Anthony, his eye were burning into hers making her stomach flip.

"I know what you're thinking and don't, we need every one." His voice was stern, almost threatening and it didn't help that while he was telling her that he as slowly raising his bat up to prepare to attack, Aali must have saw him because he told him and everyone to try and avoid getting physical with charily.

She nodded her head in response as she gazed at the Henry W. Grady Monument placed in the middle of the street, the once beautiful monument was now bloody and covered in bullet holes with the woman facing the right side, she guessed, shot off and a black suburban smashed into the other side, she wondered if that statue was even recognizable now.

Rosie jumped at the familiar noise of something hitting a skull, she turned to see Brian smash in the skull of an elderly woman, who was reaching out for him from a wrecked van's opened door. Another noise came from behind her, she wanted to look when another Charlie came to close for comfort, Rosie did as Brian did and ignored the rules, she quickly took a step away from her group and slammed the spike end of the axe into the top of its skull, it was shorter than her so it made for an easy target, she hated dealing with taller ones, there wasn't a few because she was decently tall but they were out there.

"Rosie!" Anthony yelled at her, she turned and hurried back to her potion but not without a few of the group scolding her. _Hell, they should be happy one less Charlie to deal with._

They walked passed and underground parking, it looked as if someone had tried to barricade it with cars but failed, Rosie looked and saw dead Charles in mid crawl to get under the cars, some were still movie now trying to get back out to them, the moans in the lot were loud echoing around causing the group to push forward faster, she looked down the smaller road on the intersection and was glad they didn't have to go that way, she could see hundreds of Charles walking around, some were crouched down devouring something, poor bastard.

Suddenly a large crashing noise erupted from across the street, they all looked and with great horror saw at least thirty Charlie's pushing their way out in any way they could, she heard someone yell keep moving, she guessed it was either Michele or Brian she couldn't tell but she didn't need to be told twice. But someone else did.

"Wait! Shit, I can't keep up with her!" Kathy called out, Rosie looked and saw what she meant, for a scrawny old woman she was stubborn and wouldn't move any faster, even with Kathy pushing her along.

"Here, take these." Michele quickly handed Kathy his backpack as he moved grannie into a piggy back ride, he then looked at Sam, "Ya gonna be OK ol' man?" Sam nodded with a detriment look in his eyes.

"Hurry, they're getting closer!" Brian called out as he took down another infected.

"Alright let's go." Michele called out, and they began to move faster at a steady jog, it was faster but not fast enough for her comfort, they had to stop again for Angela to pick up Kelly who was also starting to fall behind, it was lucky the girl was also rather skinny but so was her mother, and now they had lost a fighter.

They passed another intersection while running around a fallen buss, she didn't even want to look down the other roads, she didn't even want to look behind her, hearing the growing moans was enough for her to know what was there. But soon a new noise filled the air causing her to look up into the blue sky, a loud thump-thump like noise started up over head as two helicopters flew by, she hoped that it meant they were close.

"Look!" Kelly called out pointing at the Charles behind them. "They're movin' away with the helicopters!" Jeffery exclaimed with a smile on his face. Rosie had to admit she was happy for a second until she realized what it could mean, _if they fallowed them then wouldn't the landing zones be overrun with the infected by now_? She shook the thought form her head, like her father told the last time she was able to call them "Keep a positive attitude; you'll make it through this."

_Daddy_, she felt her throat tighten up at the thought of him, of her family. _Please be ok._

"How much farther?" Angela called out, Rosie could tell the woman was already getting worn out, Rosie had to admit that with the lack of good food and hardly any water she too was starting to fell worn out, it didn't help that they all had to carry countless of heavy items on their backs.

"Nearly half way there, "Aali called out " just two more blocks until we reach the street to go trait to the station." _Thank god._

"Shit!" Rosie looked over to see Michele on his hands and knees; he had tripped over a severed leg, sending him and Grannie to the ground. Kathy quickly when to go help Michele up, while Jillian ran towards her mother, still clutching the two month old in her arms. "Mom!" Lucy called out running after her; Aali quickly took hold of his daughter's shoulder, holding her back. Rosie watched as the elderly woman quickly jumped up, rambled something incoherent and darted towards a building with the infected coming towards her. Hakim ran after her pushing back Jillian.

Aali yelled something in his native language after his brother; he called back with a sad smile on his face as he ran towards the elder woman. Rosie couldn't see what had happened next; Anthony pushed her forward as Aali started up the group again pulling his wife and crying daughter so that they could keep moving. But she did hear the screams of pain form the elder woman and then the cry of the man. She instantly felt remorse for the thought she had of the elder woman, for thinking they were better off moving along without her and she felt even worse for her thoughts of the brother. She didn't know if he had sacrificed himself to keep the group moving to keep the infected at that building occupied, or if he felt like he couldn't live in a world like this anymore.

"Daddy! We can't leave them!" She hear Lucy call out her voice barely understandable beneath her sobs. "There is noting to go back to Lucy, now don't stop moving!" Rosie looked over to see the girl wipe her face as she continued on to their jog, she then looks at Michele who knee looked scraped, his cargo shorts had little protected against the harsh cement road. She hopped that no infected blood got into the wound, _could it be that easily transferred?_

They ran passed a diner, picking up speed when they saw the horrid state it was in, she didn't even have to look inside, the simple glance of a young hand sticking out form behind a tipped over table was enough for her to know what it wasn't safe there.

They ran passed another parking complex, this one was the kind that went up towards the sky, she saw a t-shirt turned flag on the top of the roof, and the hoards of infected trying to beat down the turned over cars, at least that group was smart enough to block the bottom of the cars to keep them from crawling underneath.

"I think there are people up there!" she heard Jeffery called pointing up towards the rising parking complex, a few of the group turned their heads, while the others just kept wanting to move. "What if there a live and need help?" he called out a gain hoping to get a reaction, "Jeffery at this point were the ones that need help beside look at the hoard, we can't go fight that." Cody called back, Rosie frowned with the young teen, feeling bad for who ever was stuck up there, she hopped a helicopter would land there to pick them up.

Her hope was brought down when she saw another helicopter, this time flying right over them and the complex, it was heading strait towards the police station noting even slowing down to pick up the possible survivors on the roof or even them. Over the noise of the choppier she herd something else, gun shots. A few at first but then countess of them, screams then fallowed and as they turned the corner of the street Rosie understood why she heard those noises, there had to be hundreds of them. This was the reason they hadn't run into so many, this is why they needed to evacuate the city it was truly overrun.

Rosie felt her body go rigged at the sight of people trying to fight off the infected, they must have just come to them attracted to the noise the helicopters made. She felt something grab her hand, instinctively she when to swing at it only to stop, it was Anthony. "come on!"he yelled, while pulling her along with the now sprinting group, even Sam was ahead of her now as Anthony pulled her along to cross over the park that lay on the other side of the street, it was filled with infected but not as bad as the other side, she raced along with him passed fallen bodies and abandoned cars. When they finally reached the grass of the park she felt her heart sink when she saw Mechelle fall as a fallen infected reached and grabbed hold of his leg, she herd Kathy scream as she witnessed the Charlie bit into his calf and tear out a large chunk of flesh, she saw as he began to try and beat in the infected head, but it was no use other came and joined the feast, taring out into his stomach pulling out his intestines as the young man thrashed beneath them.

As they ran passed Kathy Rosie made Anthony and Cody stop so that hey could prevent Kathy jumping in to save her already lost love. Cody grabbed the screaming girl around the was and pulled her along, as they catch up to the group they were passing the stage she began to feel guilty for not putting the boy down, not just for a mercy kill but to also keep another infected form rising up again.

She wanted to asked were they were running towards, but then she saw it. A chubby short man was waving for them to hurry holding open a metal gate surrounding the entrance of a small pharmacy she smiled in release at the sight of him waving his gun in the air as a younger man song a metal pole at a near by Charlie.

"Hurry up!" the elder man called out, as he to took a swing at another infected. Quickly everyone began to pile in threw the door, just as Rosie reached it she herd a scream come form behind her. Turing her head she saw as Amanda was in a death lock with a charlie was that so baldy mutilated she couldn't tell anything about it only that it had it teeth sunken in to the back of her neck making her scream out in pain as blood poured from her wound and her mouth spilling onto the cement street. The younger man with the pole in his hand ran over to her and bashed in the head of her attacker, and then bashed in Amanda's. Rosie felt tears begin to stream down her face, if anyone were to live passed her she was sure it would be Amanda, nothing sacred her and Rosie was sure she was behind them because she simply wanted to kill more of the infected.

The boy holding the now bloody and bent pull pushed her in the rest of the way and then turned to lock up the gate and then soon the large double doors of the front of the shop with a loud bang noise.

Rosie collapsed to the wooden floor from exhaustion. Her whole body felt as if she had just gone threw a horrible car accident, every muscle was sore and painful to the touch. She looked up and saw Aali hold his wife and daughter, who were both crying for the lost of grannie, she could have sworn she saw a tear fall form his eye. Thought him and his brother seemed to contently fight and bicker even a few punches where thrown between the two middle aged men but looking at him now she could feel his regret as he clung to if only family. Kathy was also bawling in the corner to the point were she was hyperventilating. The boy who had killed Amanda walked over to her to try and calm her down, she ended up throwing her arms around the older man, probably in his late thirties, knocking him down on the ground. His showed that he must have felt awkward about her reaction but patted her back nonetheless.

Even the baby was crying and fussing in Brian's arms as he tried to hush her to sleep, but she could tell that Ella wasn't going to anytime soon.

The old man walked passed her, stood on the self of the counter and called out form a window just almost touching the ceiling, it was small but he could fit his head in. "Kenny, are there any others comin' this way?"

"Dead or alive dad?" she herd a voice call back.

"Alive."he called back to his son. "I already figured that the dead are headin' this way, no thanks to ya older brothers shootin'." The old man pulled his head out of the window. "Just had to go trigger happy didn't ya boy." The older man then frowned "and stop ya flirtin' shes way to young for ya." He asked the boy who was trying to pry the weeping girl from around his waist.

"Look it was a instinctual reaction, or what ever its called, someones comin' towards me to eat my face off I'mma shoot their face off in return." The man answered back. "n I ain't flirtin'!" he added

The mans dad rolled his eyes as he stepped down off the counter and walked up to Aali, Rosie began to wonder when the man became their leader in the first place. "How many did ya lose?" he asked kneeling down to Aali's level.

"To many." The man replied. After a bit of silence he gave him a strait answer. "Four." The older man just nodded then held out his hand to him, Names Gregory Clark," He then nodded to the now freed blond "that there is James, and Kenny, his younger brother, is up on the roof scoping things out,"

Aali looked at the mans hand then reached out and shook it. "Aali, this is my daughter Lucy and wife Jillian." The man nodded at Jillian "Ma'am," and then at the sill weeping girl with a sad smile on his face. "Miss."

He then stood and looked at Sam, who then told him his name with giving Gregory a firm handshake, then towards Angela who gave her name and then Kelly's, Brian was next who also told Greggory Ella's name, the older man knelt down and took hold of her small and and gave it a small shake causing the baby to stop crying and then giggle as she reached out to pull on his graying beard, the old man chuckled and then turned to Jeffery quietly told the man his name as well. Cody and then Anthony who also gave him Kathy's name who had finally calmed herself down do a small tears. He then looked at Rosie, he gave her a worried look, "Whats your name miss?" Rosie hated being talk to like a kid but her head felt so dizzy that she couldn't think of anything to snap back at the old man so instead she stood up and lead against the wall, she felt more like the adult she was but wall was still needed for support.

"Rosie." She answered back as she begin to wipe the dark blood on her hands off on her shorts, she hadn't realized how much blood had gotten on her from the fighting, it was nearly up to her elbows. that is when she noticed it, her phone was lighting up and she could feel the gentile vibration, she quickly put the axe down and swiftly pulled the phone out of her pocket flipping it open as fast as she could.

"Daddy!" she yelled her heart filling with joy, _he was OK, he was alive!_

"Rosie hunny, is that you?" there was a few voices in the background, one she recognized as her mamma which made tears start to streams down her cheeks, "Daddy its me, I'm OK."

"Hunny, if that is you were alright, were staying at the Tolls house with another family." Her heat sunk,she knew the services would be bad, but could he really not hear anything form her?

She felt bad for doing this but she pressed the end button and then began to text hoping that it would send.

'Daddy its Rosie, I'm all right and am near one of the rescue points.' She posed uninsured on what to say next. 'I love you, I miss you so much.' Sinking to the floor as she pressed the send button, she waited for a good three minutes before it final sent out.

She sighed with relief and looked up form her phone to see Anthony staring down at her. "Rosie, your family," He paused for a moment. "are they?"

"they're alright." She quickly interrupted, her body beginning to shake as she forced tears to stay down. She was happy but she felt guilty at the happiness, especially with Lucy glaring at her.

The silents was broken by, whom she assumed was Kenny, walking out of a white door form the back of the pharmacy with an annoyed look on his face. "Ya know dad, ya may have ADD but ya need to at least stay put and listen for an answer." Gregory turned to the younger brother, both boys did look a lot like their father, same round face and turned up nose, Rosie wouldn't be surprised it the mans once gray hair was also blond, the only thing she fond different about the boys was both James and his father had green eyes while Kenny's were blue.

"Sorry son, was just doin' the polite thing and introducin' my self." He looked around at everyone. "Now I don't own this place but I'm sure that the owners would have been kind enough people to allow us to use what ever we may need so we have been doin' just that. Now" he looked over at Brian an Ella. "we got some formula that you couldn't use for the baby, there is only a few beds upstairs that y'all can use, I figured that the children and mothers can have them, but for the rest of us the floor ain't to bad" he then looked at Rosie who in return gave him a strange look, _this guy better stop staring or I will freak._

"I suggest you go to sleep now miss Rosie, looks as if ya haven't slept in days."

"I'm fine." She said a little harsher then she would have wanted.

"Rosie, just go to sleep already OK? Ya have barley slept these pass few days anyway. Ill keep watch and make sure ya don't miss any meals or if anythin' exciting happens." Anthony said while gently pulling her arm so that she stood up and then walked her towards the back of the pharmacy where it was darker.

" I said I'm fine." She snapped back clutching the phone to her chest, she didn't want to miss any text her father my send.

"Look ya have been given me a heart attack since this day has started, the least ya can do for me is sleep." His voice was stern, she stared at him for a while then looked passed him at everyone else, they were startling to gather anything they could find useful on the shelves. Letting out a sigh she final agreed.

She was surprised to see his face soften. "Good." He stood there holding onto her shoulder for a while then without even blinking he pulled her into an embrace, it was short, barely a second but it made her body warm, which felt surprisingly good in this heat. She watched as the boy turned and started towards Cody who was going threw the energy bars. She knelt down near and empty shelf and felt her phone vibrate. Quickly she pulled it out and read the new text with a smile on her face.

'everyone here is safe too, we love you so much.' It was short but it make her hopeful. She closed the phone and rested her arm and then head on the shelf. She didn't even remember falling a sleep.

* * *

Yay! lol I'm so glad that I finished this, school is going to start thought in a few weeks so i hope i can keep uploading a chapter per week still :) thank you to all who have viewed, fallowed, Favorited this story.


	4. Chapter 4 Help Is On The Way

_Help is on the way (They said, they said) Help is on the way (They said, they said) we were told just to sit tight, 'Cause somebody will soon arrive. Help is on the way. But it never came! It never came!_

_Rise Against._

* * *

Rosie's eyes slowly opened at the sound of something she hadn't heard in what felt like forever, laughter. She lifted her head from her now sore arm, rubbed her neck and looked over to see Kelly jingling some keys at a giggling Ella. Rosie tried to remember the last time she saw the baby smile. Just watching that baby form the other side of the store made her own lips curve upward, she watched as Angela walked over to the two and started to talk baby talk to the infant making her coo and even blow a bubble causing both mother and daughter to let out a small laugh.

She looked around the room and saw Kathy washing her face in a bucket of water while Cody was drying his face off with one of his t-shirts. The others were all sitting around the counter of the store listing to the radio. As she sat up she began to wonder how the dead hadn't broken in yet, they weren't being that quiet and she was sure those bars couldn't hold for that long. Then she remembered all the other people they had run by, all the people trapped in cars with no way out sounded by the dead. The only thing she could guess as to why they hadn't tried that hard to get to them was because there were easier targets.

She looked at the group of adults, Gregory looked at her then whispered something to Anthony who nodded, looked at Rosie, told the group something, and then began to walk over to her. She stood there awkwardly, what was with that guy? She started at the old man as he continued to look at her with a frown formed beneath his grizzly Adams beard.

"What's with that guy and how long have I been out" she asked in a hush tone as Anthony came with in ear shot. She turned her head away from the old man and up to Anthony's eyes, they were so sad and full of what looked like regret. She didn't understand, just what the hell had they been discussing about since she had fallen asleep. This is why I hate sleeping, I always miss something important!

The blond ran his hand through his curls and let out a sigh, "Not long, maybe an hour or two, and um, well, look Gregory had brought up something that we have tried to about talking about, because well." He paused for a second still looking down at her, but not at her face but her body. At first she felt a little weirded out, Rosie may like him but being looked at by a boy still made her nervous that was until she saw the look in his eyes wasn't anything, what romantic? She didn't know. "We have tried to tell you kid of saddle like but it just didn't work so we have tried to deal with it in different ways, most of them wanted to tell you but I felt like you had enough to deal with."

Rosie shook her head, "What in the hell are ya talkin' about?" she asked in a laud voice so that she was sure that those who were trying to listen to them could defiantly hear them. But she didn't care she hated it when people danced around a subjects instead of just going out and telling her.

He let out a grown and then said in a low mumble that was just barely understandable. "When was the last time you looked in the mirror?" She stood there confused and possibly offended. There was no way they were caring about how she looked, had they looked in the mirror lately? They were all covered in grime with dirty hair; Rosie wouldn't be surprised if she developed dread locks in a few more weeks. "Not in a while, why?" she asked anger in her voice, if he was really like this then maybe he wasn't as sweet as she thought he was.

"No look, it's just well, um, damn it just look in the mirror!" he finally yelled pointing out the small bathroom door on their right, she garbled at him and let out a "Fine!" she turned and talked to the door, flung it open and stepped inside to look at the mirror hanging on the wall.

Rosie hadn't looked in a mirror for a long time, one reason was because they had used the toilets until they were unable to flush anymore and then kept using them to the point that it smelt so bad that they closed and locked to door, this prevented her from looking into the bathroom mirror, also since the light had gone out it was hard for her to look in the mirror and really see anything, but most importantly she knew that she wouldn't look good and she that wasn't obsessed so why even look at the mirror if you know already how you look, the only probably was once Anthony brought in the lantern and lit up the small bathroom did she find out how wrong she was on what she thought she had looked like, very wrong, it was much, much worse.

"Rosie, do you remember the last time you ate?"

She didn't answer him, simply because she really couldn't remember; days always seemed to blend together so it was hard to pin point when she did last ate. Her hands moved up to her arms, slowly she wrapped her hand around it, Rosie felt sick with the fact that she could touch her fingers around her arm, she knew she wasn't as big as she was before this had all happened; it wasn't a surprised to hear that she as skinnier hell everyone was thinner form having to not eat as much in the pass couple weeks but this sacred her.

Her thin hands moved up to her cheek bones that where more prominent than ever, her face looked sicken in, with all of this much and grime, dried blood caked n her body she looked almost just like one of them, one of the dead. She when to hug her torso and began to shake when she felt her ribs, this shirt used to be so tight on her, just barely fitting but now it was almost hanging on her body. How the hell did she not notice this before? Rosie wasn't anorexic, she loved junk food and hated throwing up so she could never be anorexic or bulimic, but she looked like those teenagers who you saw on the news. How long had she been like this?

"Why didn't you tell me about his before?"

"We didn't really noticed to be completely honest, most of us started to get skinny just as fast as you did hell even Brian lost a chin, don't' tell him I said that." He said quickly, Rosie turned to him no longer wanting to look at the skeleton in the mirror. She heard him cough into his fist a few times after a bit of silence. "Look I was thinking about telling you but I didn't want to make you feel like you were a burden or anything. So whenever I could I would make sure that you would eat by sitting with you after I brought you food."

Rosie did remember him sitting down with her a lot whenever she ate, pushing food towards her telling her to eat the rest so it didn't go to waste. "Gregory brought it up to us that we should tell you after you went to sleep, the guy practically yelled at us for keeping you from realizing what you were doing to yourself." Anthony stated after another pause of silence. Rosie just stood there looking at her scrawny ankles.

"Come on, let's get ya some food."

Rosie nodded as she followed him to the front of the store, as she got closer she noticed the faint moans and the sound of the metal gate hitting agents each other as they tried to get in. she tried to ignore it promising herself that it will hold, that the majority of them where to distracted to bring a big enough number to break down the door, so instead of worrying about it she looked around and noticed a few people missing. "Where's Jeffery?"

"He's outside with Kenny scooping things out." Lucy answered who had joined in playing with Ella, she nodded and sat down next to them as Anthony when to go get her some food, some of the others looked at her but then looked back at the radio, she tried to pay attention to it but the static was making it more and more difficult to make out the words.

"So did he finally tell you?" Rosie turned around to face Kathy who was in the proses of untangling her messy hair wincing whenever she came across a tangle.

"Guessin' that you were one of the once who wanted to tell me?" she asked wondering what the point of her brushing her hair was for, and why she wasn't still crying, Rosie knew that if she had a boyfriend she would probably still be in tears especially considering that she knew they were both living together for at least three years. How could she have gotten over it so quickly?

"Well I thought it would be best for the group, I still don't understand why they wanted to keep it a secret from ya, hell, you would have probably known how much of a hassle it was to get you here." She stated flipping her now tangled free of hair across her shoulder.

She was a put back by that comment, "What the hell are you talkin' about? Last time I check I took down more infected then you have since this thing has started." Kathy began to laugh out loud making Rosie's anger rise up, before she could snap at her the girl stared at her with cat-like eyes "You really are clueless, I'm actually begging to wonder if you're losing your mind."

"What they hell do you mean?"

"Ya didn't do shit today, ya maybe before this," she pointed at Rosie's body indicating herself starvation," Ya did take down a few infected but now all ya did was swing that stupid axe and knock them over, why do you think that dumb and dumber had to jump down and save your ass, might not have noticed it but all ya did was knock them over allowin' them to grab for your feet and don't even get me started about how ya decided to trail away to take out that thing, hell ya almost got bit if you didn't notice." Her voice was so cold but Rosie had a feeling that she wasn't over reacting. She tried to think back to the moments she was talking about but it all felt like a blur at this pint but she didn't remember actually almost being bit, did she?

"Kathy, that's enough."

Kathy glared up at Anthony "Well excuse me for tellin' the truth, you of all people should realize how stupid of an idea it was to keep this from her, it's her fault we lost Amanda!" she yelled out pointing a finger at Rosie.

She just sat there her green eyes wide at what she had said. "What do you mean by that?" she asked glaring at Kathy.

"Why don't ya ask him?"

Rosie clenched her fist, why was this chick such a bitch?

"Amanda stayed behind the group to make sure that you didn't get left behind or attack dorm behind, it wasn't her fault that she died." Anthony stated his face turning red from anger.

"Just that she got bit, making James killed her." Kathy said in a dark tone that made Rosie realize that after she was bit Amanda was still human when James killed her, could that be seen as morally right to kill someone who hadn't turned yet?

Kathy shut up." Rosie jumped at the sternness of Anthony's voice and was even more surprised at the hatred in his eyes as he looked at the other girl, she looked back at him with equal hatred in them but she didn't say another word, Kathy stood up and bumped her shoulder into his as she walked passed him and towered the rest of the group.

Letting out a sigh he sat down next to Rosie and ignored the stares from girls sitting next to them and handed her several heath bars, "My coach would give these to us to help us gain weight, they did work for us so hopefully they will help with you." His voice was so calm that is scared her at how much he could change it in such short of time. He looked at her with a sad smiled stood up to go wash his face leaving her with the bars, she looked at the chart on the back of the rappers and was shocked at how many calories the tiny bar held. _I would have never guessed he was in sports._

She opened up the bar and bit down, her eyes widened as she tasked the bitterest chocolate that probably ever tasted. She painfully swallowed the bar and took another big bite to quickly finish it.

As she swallowed the last of the heath bar Anthony joined her again taking one for himself, she looked at him and her eyes widened as she noticed the large bruise forming where Cody had punched him, she had completely forgotten about it. "Nice shiner." She said with a small smile on her face, by the looks on his face she had a feeling he had also forgotten about it to, "Ya, ass hole still owes me an apology." He chuckled as he turned too looked at the boy who was pulling his long black hair behind his ear so that he could get a better look at something that Aali was pointing out on the counter. She noticed Anthony's smile fading and he turned his head back to the floor he reached out for one of the bars and after unwrapping it took a bite, his face twisted into disgust as he chewed. "Forgot how bad these things tasted."

She let out a small chuckle at his comment but her mind sooner went back to the topic of Amanda's murder, "Do ya think it was right for him to do that?"

He looked up "what?"

"For James to kill Amanda." She answered in a hush tone. Anthony took another bite and looked away; he slowly chewed it until finally swallowing then looked at her, "Well if I was the one bit I know I would want to be killed before I to turn, maybe she would have wanted the same. I know I don't want to end up like one of them."

Rosie thought about it for a moment "me too."

After they finished the majority of the bars, they picked up the last three and put them with the rest of the supplies, she was shocked to see how many there were, Cody must have found some in the back because there is no way that there could be that many on the shelves.

As they walked back to the others huddling around the radio she heard something coming form the back of the store, she looked to see both Kenny and Jeffry walking towards them with somber faces. "Dad it's not good, there is practically nothin but infected out there and I think they can tell we're hiding in here."

"What's even worse is that helicopters are still flyin' around, rounding them up just like we thought they would." Jeffry added.

The older man let out a hushed curse as he turned to the map that they had laid out next to the radio, the scene almost looked like something out of a war movie but instead of the characters being soldiers there were just a bunch of civilians and instead of living enemies they were facing the dead.

"So what you said is true then, I can't believe this." Jill shook her head.

"It's the only thing that makes sense, I mean James did hear a lot of the military men talkin' about it" Kenny stated.

Rosie looked at Anthony hoping that he would fill her in on what the hell they were talking about. He seemed to have under stood what she was thinking, he leaded over to her and whispered. "James is in the military and was actually fighting those things but when he realizes that it was useless he ran to go find his family, but while he was there he heard talk of what ether would do if the city got over run."

She nodded and leaned towards him and whispered back. "What do helicopters have to do with the plan?" He looks worried about that fact and bit his lip then said without whispering "Their rounding them up for somethin'."

They also keep playing the broadcast to bring people into the city." James added in causing Rosie to become even more confused. "What? The broadcast we have been listening to had told us to start to evacuate why they would broadcast two different statins to say different things?"

James shrugged "No clue, I'm guessing, but I hope I'm wrong, that they are using the people coming in as a distraction as to what they want to do."

"And what's that?" Anthony asked

"Eliminate the infection at any means necessary."

"So when ya mean eliminated do ya mean that the army comes back and sweep through the city again'?" Anthony asked with annoyances in his voice.

"Dough full," James replied "We tried that and it barley worked and even if we did this thing has spread everywhere so the likelihood that we could actually keep the city completely clean is nearly impossible."

"So how are they going to do it then?" Rosie asked irritated that he wouldn't just spit it out on what the army was planning.

"I'm not sure if this is true or not, there were a lot of ideas and while I was there no one had decided on one but the most popular one was bombing the city."

"They can't do that!" Rosie yelled "Don't they know that there are survivors!"

Kenny shook his head "They know that, that's why they didn't do this sooner because they were trying to get us out and failed."

"Hold on I'm still confused, why are they using the people coming into the city as a distraction and how were they able to keep one station only playing in the city and not out of town because I'm sure that if anyone in that traffic herd that the city is collapsing they would try to spread the word and keep people away, right? And how are they going to bomb the city?" Anthony stared at James waiting for an answer the older man rubbed his hand over his face stopping at the stubble growing on his chin.

"The stations you have been listing to was run by a small radio station that wasn't broadcasting the emergency broadcast system, hell I bet if you had switched the station you would be listening to what the people that want to get into the city are hearing." He answered "Plus the city just started to get over run, I'm sure in a while they will the people to head away from the city."

"And the bombs? There not going to nuke the place, right?" Kathy asked panic in her voice

"No, they won't use nukes. I hope." James mumbled the last part but every one heard. "I do know that when they bomb the place it's going to probably be where they were trying to gather the living."

"You mean practically where we are, right?"

James nodded a yes to Brian's question and the room became silent with the only noise being the baby's coos and the growing moaning coming from the front door.

We need to get as far away from here as possible." Sam stated

"How?" Lucy asked "There's too many of them and of us to sneak round without being seen."

Aali put his arm around his daughter "she's right there no way we could make it out of the city on foot with ought losing anyone else."

Gregory nodded "well we won't be leaving the city I'm sure that all the roads are blocked off but as long as we get far enough form this area we should be fine and we drove here using my neighbors van it could fit us all."

"Where did you park it at?"

Gregory turned to Brian who was now holding a sleeping Ella "A block away from here, if we go out the back door and down the alley we should be fine."

"Alley's aren't good." Rosie stated "went down them to get home and I was almost trapped there."

"There are more of us with more weapons we should be fin, any of you have guns?" Kenny asked causing Rosie to feel her stomach do a flip as she looked at the boys and then at Angela waiting for them to rat her out, but they didn't and Kenny didn't seem to notice her worried look and took the silence as a no. "Good loud noises attract them so the less we use the gun we have the better."

"So it's decided then, pack your things people were heading out."

Within a minute everyone was piled up at the back door, Rosie felt her stomach turn and was sure she could tasted bitter sour vial creep up her throat, it was like da ja vie. A group piled up around the only possible safe exit ready to leave a safe zone to go looking for a safe haven that now could possibly not even exist. They had decided to try to shoot for driving as deep into the group of houses a few blocks away from them, they were all counting of people leaving that area to get to the once safe zones or had already left the city.

Rosie looked over at Sam holding tightly onto his blood stained cane, she thought back to what Kathy had said about her holding them back, she wished that she just thought she was just being a bitch again but Rosie had the feeling she wasn't.

As Gregory stuck his head out of the door to look to see if the cost was clear Rosie reached into her pocked to fish out her phone, there were no messages, she had sent a text to her sister asking her if she and everyone's was ok but she had yet to get a reply back.

"I'm sure there alright." She turned to see Anthony's looking down at her with a small smile.

"Me to." She lied

"Ok there's one in the ally but I'm sure we can take him down easily without alerting the others. Every one ready?" they all nodded, "ok then let's go."

Rosie quickly stuffed her phone back into her pocked and clutched her axe as she darted out the door behind Brian.

The infected that Gregory had seen was taken down before she had a chance to even see it coming towards them she did watch, with much surprise, Jeffry smashing in the infected head repeatedly with a hammer until cody pulled him away from the corpse as they ran down the alleyway. At this pint Rosie had wished they had kept her weekend body a secret now that she knew, she could feel it. Her legs were already about to give out on her and she could hardly keep the axe up to even use as a defense against any attacks. As the turned out of the ally she felt Anthony jump beside her and take a swing at an infected, after it fell she felt him grab her hand and help pulled her a long as the large group ran through the infected streets as quickly and quietly as they could.

The streets were nearly full of them none of them could take three steps without having to push one away causing their strategy of being quiet to vanish. Rosie was tempted to look back to see if they were fallowing her but with Anthony pulling her along now yelling at her to keep moving forward it was nearly impossible.

There!" she heard Kenny yell "The blue van up ahead!" she felt the group move faster as they made a b line to the van; she watch as the van's headlights light up as he unlocked it and opened up the sliding doors. Rosie finally felt like they might all make it until she heard someone scream out in pain. Turning her head she saw a fallen Kathy kicking away an infected, Jeffry turned and pulled her up by her arm and kicked the infected in the face causing a crunching noise.

"Don't stop moving!" Kenny yelled as he held the climbed into the vans passenger seat, James was already starting up the car and the rest of the group was filling into the van; with in reaching distance she flung herself into the open door with Anthony, Jeffry, Kathy, and Sam fallowing her, the van was crowded she tried to move her axe without cutting anyone and as she heard the doors began to close a loud scream of pain filled the van, she didn't want to turn around to see who had been hurt, all she saw Gregory pushing her and Lucy aside as he pointed his fun ought he door and fired two shots the door was then slammed shut and within a few seconds they were off towered whatever could be seen as save at this point.

As she felt the van fly through the streets her ears began to ring with the noise of the gun shots and the sharp pitched crying of Ella. She wanted to turn around to see who they had lost; she wasn't that naive; two shots were fired for a reason, to kill the infected and to put the bitten out of their misery. As she tried to maneuver herself form between the two seats she felt something slide on the carpet covered floor of the van she turned her head downwards still avoiding the back drivers side seat but looking down at Sam's discarded cane she now had a good guess as to who was bitten.

Rosie felt a pain go through her, she didn't know the old man that well but she did remember walking pass the room he was staying in while they were still huddled up in the top floor; he was sitting in the recliner talking to a photo, she couldn't tell what he was saying to it or what the photo was but his face was so serine and peaceful as if whoever he was talking to threw the photo that he was talking face to face.

Rosie fingers grasped around the wooden cane feeling the tiny groves in the hunny colored wood and instantly felt guilty for not trying to get a hold of her grandparents, they were all alive and the last time she had talked to them was months before this had all happened, she clutched onto the cane and cradled it against her as she brought her knees up to her chest blocking out the screams of Ella, the yells form whoever was trying to direct them, she didn't know where they were going, and now she didn't care; as long as it got her to a place where she could live a little longer so that she could find a way out of this city and go home.

Slowly she kept one of her hands clenched onto the cane and the other tried to fish out her phone without falling backwards from the van jerking around, she tried to not think about what ever was causing them to bump up and down. She flipped it open and saw the half bar left of signal. She didn't hesitate and began to text her sister knowing that she would also have her phone close to her, knowing Maria she was sure that she did try to get a hold of their grandparents, Maria as always good at remembering little details like that.

'I will see you again I promise'

As she pressed send she felt her body go flying back to the right hitting cody in his leg, she tried to let out a sorry but was caught speechless as she saw the horde they were driving threw, they turned another corner sending her towards and Anthony and Geoffrey, she felt a hand keep her steady as she turned her head around to look at Anthony who was staring intently at the road ahead, she looked passed him and over the others heads; the hole streets seemed to be filled with them, and with the sun starting to set the mood seemed to feel even more helpless. _If we crash and are stuck out here we won't make it._

she could hear Gregory yelling form the back at his sons who were hastily maneuvering around the infected, she turned her head back around and watched as they ran over several infected sending the van up in the air and back down again, she couldn't tell where they were at this point, they aware going too fast for her to notice any landmarks or even read a street sign.

As they turned another street corner she heard over the fighting and crying a familiar noise. Rosie wobbly crawled passed cody and Kathy to look out of the window she watched as helicopters began to flew through the now nearly dark sky, she didn't know where they were going but she had a feeling that they were going to pick up the possible bombs. _Shit, he's right they really might bomb this place._

Rosie noticed that the hordes of infected were dwindling and more houses where coming into view, she turned to the fount of the van towards the brothers, "Where are you taking us?" she asked while trying to keep her eyes off the road.

"Back to our house, before we had left we boarded it up pretty well so it should still be ok and the infected are mainly in the downtown area so their shouldn't be as many." James answered swerving around a large group of infected reaching out towards the speeding van

"We should just try and leave the city, or at least get to the edge of it, we have enough gas." Kenny argued

James shook his head "No way, we are already risking an accident as it is." he turned another corner causing her to almost fall on the driver but she clutched onto the back of his seat. "Sorry, and besides I dont want to drive around like this at night; the sun will be complete set in a few minutes."

"Whatever." his brother mumbled with annoyance in his voice "Just dont kill us on the way there."

"No promises."

"Rosie." the burnet turned her head to look at Anthony "what?"

"Where are we going?" he asked trying himself to keep steady on the rocking floor of the van.

"To their house, apparently they had barricaded it so they think its save."

"It is safe." Gregory interrupted "Dont you worry about that little lady." he smiled at her but she could tell that he was doubting his own words it only took one infected to cause trouble.

Rosie turned towards the fount of the van and noticed that they we're slowly coming to a stop.

"Shit." James hissed

"What, what's wrong?" Gregory stood up form the back and tried to pushed his way towers the front to look, Rosie tried to and didn't see anything, there were a few infected wondering the street slowing coming towards the van but other than that there wouldn't be anything wrong.

"There is a light on in the house." James answered

"How there isn't any electricity right?" Kathy asked her voice shaky

"Not in this area, it's probably an oil lamp or something but the problem is that we didn't leave any lamps on. Someone bunkered down in the house."

"So that's a good thing right? I mean the more people the better we can survive and fight them off, right?" Jeffery asked clenching onto the weapon.

"Depends on if the people are friendly or not." Kenny said turned to the boy while turning off the van. As soon as the engine cut, a loud thud noise came from the back window causing everyone to scream, Brian let out a shit! As he tried to crawl over the seats from the trunks, she couldn't see anything but Rosie had a feeling that an infected was bounding on the back window.

"Regardless if they are inside, they can't keep us out, we have food and water we can trade. And we can't stay in here forever."

Aali nodded in agreement. "Alright everyone with weapons line up at the door and everyone else fallow them, now we need to move quickly and dont interact with the infected unless needed," Rosie noticed that he looked at her while saying that, hey I'm only trying to help. "Everybody got that?" the group mumbled a reply of yes or nodded.

"Well then people lets go." Gregory announced while looking at the infected still trying to break down the back window.

Rosie quickly grabbed for her discarded axe and tighten her grip on the cane, she noticed cody giving her a look "could be used as a weapon." she explained he shook his head but didn't say anything and as the doors opened he stepped out Rosie fallowed him keeping her weapons close to her, she didn't want any infected grabbing for them to pull her near them, as she passed through the door she notices the splattered blood on the window she turned her head away ignoring it. If I am going to survive I have to get used to things like this.

Rosie was happy to see that there were only a few infected wondering the street, but that didn't mean that there were any hiding in a house. Quickly she took off towards the house not even worrying about the infected at the back of the van; she had already heard the thud noise of its skull being crushed in so she knew she was safe from him so she ran as fast as her skinny legs could take her with the motivation of safety form the darkness

As she reached for the wooden door she turned and noticed that the others were yelling at her "What?" she looked down the street at the infected slowly making their way towards them " There slow, were fine now hurry up." _you would think that they would be hurrying like I am right now._

"Beside you!" Anthony called out running towards her Rosie's heart sank when she looked over, there wasn't an infected until she looked down as she felt something clammy and cold clasp onto her ankle.

Rosie instantly dropped the cane and raised her axe to swing it down on the outreached arms of the infected crawling in the grass. As she brought it down Rosie felt something pull on the back of the axe. She felt sick. This can't happen. Rosie let out a scream as she tried to kick the infected away from her ankle while swinging her axe around to shake off the other, where the fuck did it come from!

"Rosie, no!"

Rosie fell to the ground from the weight of the infected pushing down on her as she held the axe between them, her right ankle still in the infected hands twisted shooting pain up her leg, her eyes were wide as she looked up into the infected milky eyes set on a putrefied face. I dont want to die.

It's face grew closer, its teeth seemed to reach out from its jaw snapping at her. She heard a crushing noise, fallowing the noise was the release of her ankle an soon the noise came again as she clenched her eyes shut; and soon she felt the splatter of cold blood hitting her face.

A weight crushed down on her as the fat infected landed on her taking her breath away. The weight was quickly taken away as the sounds of footsteps were quickly approaching her. hands reached out for her pulling her up in a sitting positions when she finally opened her eyes she meet Anthony's brown eyes, they were complete wide, full of fear.

"Are you bit?" his voice was shaking "I said are you bit!" he shook her a bit Rosie reached up for her neck she didn't' feel any warm blood jus the infected cold jelly like blood, Rosie then looked down at her ankle as the group now stood over her, the once white sock was not complete covered in blood and she could almost make out a hand griping at it "No."

Rosie felt herself be wrapped in his arms as he held her tight "Thank god." she wrapped her arm around him and buried her head in the grove of his neck as he told her "Dont you ever do that to me again."

"What the hell is with you" Rosie looked up at Aali "I didn't see them."

"That's because you didn't wait long enough to see them, you're lucky you're not bit." The man shook his head at her.

"I just wanted to get inside alright!" she fought back

Aali opened his mouth as thought to say something but was caught off by the fount door opening Rosie turned her head around to the sight of the barrel of a shot gun pointed at her head. She could barely make out the face of the man pointing the gun at her let alone the large group of people standing behind him.

"Any of you bit?" He asked

"Get that gun away from her!" Anthony yelled jumping up towards the man; the gun was soon swan at his face she watched as Anthony jumped back to doge the bullet, but it never went off.

"I got a good reason to point it at her kid, now answer the question." he slowly swung the gun to take aim at every one of their faces. "Any of you bit?"

"No. now please let us in this is, was, my house before all this." Gregory stepped towards the man, "There are infected come towards us please we have a baby with us let us in."

The man was quietly staring at Ella who was whimpering and on the verge of tears again. "I'll let you in but you need to be looked over, the last group who came in said that they wasn't bit either."

"What happened to them?" Kelly asked standing behind her mother. "You guys just took two of them out."

Kelly's eyes when wide as her mother pushed her behind her, but as soon as she heard the approaching moans she quickly pushed her daughter in front of her holding her tight "please, she pleaded, " let us in."

"Damn it Dave, let them in." A younger man hissed

The man with the gun shook his head and then stepped aside "Alright, but hurry." he turned to a tall woman with short choppy black hair "Take out the ones coming towards the house." she nodded and headed up the flight of stars near the entrance of the house lugging a crossbow across her back.

"Come on dare devil." Rosie felt Cody wrap his arm around her side and lift her up, she swore under her breath from the pain in her ankle, it wasn't broken but damn a sprain like this one hurt like hell. As they piled into the entryway she heard the door shut and turned to see three men lift up a heavy board and placed it across the door it reminded her of something she would see in a medieval movie.

Rosie leaned against a small table standing near the door, she looked up and was shocked at the amount of people standing in the living room across from her, with the older man named Dave and boy behind him, also counting the three men and the woman with the cross boy she counted a total over twenty people.

"Alright I need girls to go into the kitchen and strip and the boys you go into the dining room."

"Excuse me!" Jill yelled looking at the old man with wide eyes her hands wrapped around her daughter.

"Keep ya voice down we don't need any more of those things to worry about."

"Now hold on here, why do you need us to do that?" Aali asked stepping between his family and the man.

"To check for bites, we made a mistake before in just trusting someone's word and we lost good people because of it, dont worry my wife will check out the girls and well keep the door shut," Rosie looked at the man with annoyances there was no way she was stripping in fount of someone she didn't know.

Rosie had to guess that a lot of the group was making the same face; Kathy's had almost gone complete white.

"Look it don't have to be completely naked, you can keep your uh, under garments on."

a woman walked into the room, she was tiny in every way; if she were to turn around Rosie would think that she was a kid, that is until she noticed the woman's graying black hair.

"It's just for the best after words you can change into some clean cloths." everyone looked at the woman and then at each other Aali finally sighed and then agreed to it. Lucy started to protest but was soon quieted by her father's stern look.

"This way girls." and dont worry I'll keep the boys away."

Rosie pushed off of her support with a grunt and began to limp slowly, fallowing the small woman into the kitchen. The woman swung open the doors, holding it she waited till they had all piled in.

"Sorry about this but it really is for the best; it was only five days ago that this had happened. We had even lost a school nurse in the proses, she was the closes thing we had to a doctor." the woman turned to Rosie looking down at her leg. "And it would seem that we should need her now. Ah well you better start or the others will get inpatient, were where just about to start handing out the rations for dinner."

Kelly piped up "Rosie is a doctor." she smiled up at her while Rosie founded down in response and then proceeded to quickly take off her shirt to cover her face for a moment to avoid the older woman's stare. She was kind of hoping no one would tell them, she didn't want any of them to think she could cure them is some glorious way. Hell all she could probably do was make sure a bandage was clean, poke them with a needle and or stich them up.

The woman gave her a puzzled look. "You're a little young to be a doctor."

"Uh, actually I graduated form a nurse Tec program, but I wasn't as one while this happened."

"You should be happy about that, I'm sure that not many doctors or nurses have made it through this."

The woman looked over at Kathy who was standing in the corner still fully clothed. "Now hunny, don't worry; it's just for a second and well even gets ya some clean cloths."

The girl shook her head "You can't make me."

"Damn it Kathy! Come on the woman might give us something decent to eat."

Kathy looked away from her muttering a bitch under her breath, the woman sighed "that's alright I'll just look ya'll then let ya'll leave so it can be more privet for her."

The woman began to look over both Jill and Lucy, Rosie could tell that the young teen was annoyed but she didn't say a word and as soon as they were done a knock came at the door and a woman in her fifties came in holding a large hand full of cloths. "Here ya go Nora, they might be big on them but it's better than nothin." she looked up at them, "We have a baby her around the same age as the little girl so we set her up in the play pin with him." the woman paused for a moment. "Is she, she any of yours"

"Her parents were infected, the larger man in there named Brian is looking out for her." Angela interrupted

The woman shook her head and said alright before closing the door.

Rosie watched as the woman circled her, she lifted up her hair and then crouched down to examine her ankle, as Nora looked at her arm Rosie noticed she saw the scar. "fell out of a tree." the woman nodded Rosie wasn't sure why she had told the woman that, paranoia maybe; the woman looked at her wrist and saw the small black heart tattoo she had gotten on her sisters twentieth birthday.

She dropped her arm and smiled at her, "all clear."

Rosie winced while changed into the clothes they had laid out; the top was extremely baggy on her coming down to her knees like a dark blue night dress. She picked up some sweats and quickly pulled them up. Before she left the kitchen for Nora and Kathy to be alone she quickly snatched her phone and bags from her discarded shorts.

As she approached the living room she noticed that a majority of the residents had disappeared, her guess because of the space issue. _And I thought we were crowded at the apartments._

"So this is your house?" Dave asked looking over at the sitting man who was holding a photo in his hands "My boys here were borne n' raised"

"I hope you don't mind is staying here."

"Not at all, how many you got hidden out here?"

"A good amount, have been actually trying to move some of them to the basement but even the oldest are to creped out by it."

Gregory chuckled. "Wife hated that place, gave off a weird vibe' she always said."

Dave nodded at him; Rosie stood there awkwardly until she set down her belongings with Cody's and Anthony's and then proceeded to sit with them. She looked over at Anthony and remembered how he had held her; she quickly turned her head away before she noticed the blush creeping up her face.

"So are ya really going to have dinner and not hide in the basement or anything' Gregory asked the man raised an eye at him. "Are your radios not working?" Cody asked

"Batteries died a few days ago, why?"

"My son is, well, was in the army; there were rumors goin around that if the city was over run they would bomb the place and well the army has lost control."

"Shit."

"Here," Cody crawled over to his bag and reached for a small hand held radio."

"When did you get that?" Anthony asked looking at it.

"Found it this morning, was keeping it save in case we lost or broke the larger one."

Anthony gave him an annoyed looks "what? I wanted to have a 'no fear I can help us moment."

"You're an idiot." Rosie responded, but she couldn't help but smile she was honestly not surprised by Cody's action.

Gregory reached over and took the radio form him. "Give me that." the older men turn on the radio and began to tune it, but all that came in was static. "So much for having no fear." angrily mumbled giving the boy a disappointed look

"It worked when I found it!"

"Did they turn off the stations?" Brian asked

"It's possible but why would." Angela started to say but was quickly interrupted by Dave shooting up as a loud scream came from the kitchen, the man quickly reached for his gun and ran into the kitchen; Rosie and the others quickly ran after him, a few from Dave's group also came running form all different corners of the house. When she reached the kitchen she took in the scene before her.

Kathy was in the corner of the kitchen holding up a deadly looking large kitchen knife, it almost reminded Rosie of a hatchet, the woman named Nora was standing opposite of her with a pace of ripped jeans clenched in her hand; Rosie began to wonder were the woman got it form until she looked at Kathy's leg. Rosie remembered how she had fallen while they were running towards the van, how Jeffery hand saved her, now it seemed like it was more of a tried. On her leg was a deep bite wound with blood trickling down her ankle. _How did we not notice this?_

"Stay back!" she screamed clenching the knife in her hand

"Shit." Aali cursed "Kathy why didn't you tell us?"

"You saw what they did to Amanda!" she yelled tears pouring down her face. "I dont want to die, I shouldn't have to die." her body began to shake as she slid down the refrigirator. "I still don't know what happened to my family." she whimpered.

"Kathy we can't let you turn." Aali stated in a clam voice, but Rosie could tell by the panic in his eyes he was far from calm, what if the people in this house thought that they had lied, that we had known we hand an infected. They couldn't kick us out.

She looked up at them "I shouldn't have to." Rosie let out a yelp of pain as her ankle twisted as when was pushed up against the frame of the kitchen door way. She heard someone yell and Jill scream out. Rosie opened her eyes and stared at the back of the woman who had run upstairs hen they had first arrived, she lowered her weapon and Rosie noticed that there was no arrow loaded in it. As the older woman stepped out of the kitchen Rosie saw were the arrow was now at, she watched in shock as the woman casually walked over to Kathy's body and gripped her shoulder as she yanked out the arrow from her eye socket.

"Ya'll should learn a rule that has been established in this house since the last intendant we had."

She looked at them her eyes were a cold black that sent a shiver up Rosie's spine "I dont care who ya are, the moment your bit we kill ya, it's easier to get ya before your already dead."

She began to wipe off the blood from her arrow as she called out two names to help her with Kathy's' body.

Rosie watched as they pried open the wooden boards on the kitchen door and hale out the girls limp body. Rosie stood in shock until a loud noise passed over their head, she felt as her body moved on its own passes their pile of dirty clothes and next to the small puddle of Kathy's blood, as they began to hammer shut the door again she watched threw the boarded up windows as helicopters flew overhead, as the survivors in the house began to realize what was about to happen Rosie watched as the first bomb fell.

* * *

I am so sorry about how long it took for me to put this chapter up but this is my first year in college so i didn't expect for it and work to be taking up so much of my time, I have already gotten a bit chunk of the next chapter typed hopefully it wont take me as long to put it up but don't worry i haven't forgotten about this story


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